Organosolv fractionation holds promise to produce high purity lignin as a biomass deconstruction processes. In this study, yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) was fractionated using a mixture of methyl isobutyl ketone, ethanol, and H2O with 0.05M sulfuric acid as catalyst at 140 ○C over a two-hour period. The chemical and thermal properties of the lignins isolated every 15 min during the fractionation were analyzed and demonstrated that with the increase of reaction time from 30 to 120 min, lignin purity improved from 90.3 to 94.6 wt%, polydispersity index diminished while glass transition temperature increased from 117.3 to 137.1○C. The FTIR and NMR data also exhibited chemical changes that took place with fractionation time. Overall, this study demonstrates that thermal and chemical properties of lignin are impacted by the organosolv fractionation time, potentially offering an additional control point to produce lignins with targeted properties.

Chemical and thermal characterization of organosolv yellow poplar lignins fractionated by different time periods

251st National Meeting (2016)

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