Search

Lewis-acid catalyst Nb 2 O 5 is first applied in catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) of enzymatic hydrolysis lignin (EHL) to produce aromatic hydrocarbons (AHs) that can be used as alternative liquid fuels. The catalyst exhibits a good talent to convert lignin into AHs with quite little polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) formation. The yield of AHs reaches 11.2 wt% and monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (MAHs) takes up 94% under the optimized condition (Catalyst to Lignin ratio 9:1, 650 °C). No coke is generated during the reactions. The reaction sequence is proposed and verified by model compound reactions. Furthermore, DFT calculations are performed to understand the mechanisms of limitation of PAHs or char/coke formation and the efficient deoxygenation ability over catalyst. Nb 2 O 5 with Lewis acid sites is proved to be a promising catalyst for the production of AHs from lignin. This work provides a new idea on choice of catalysts for CFP of lignin in future., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This paper describes the investigation of the oxygen plasma treatment of enzymatic hydrolysis lignin (EHL) that was obtained from the lignocellulosic ethanol production pro- cesses. The application of EHL as a natural binder for biocomposite product manufacturing was in focus. To understand the effects of oxygen plasma treatment, the chemical changes on the surface of EHL were evaluated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS), and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. Adding EHL into the cotton-stalk fiberboards has a beneficial effect on physical and mechanical properties. Moreover, adding oxygen plasma-treated EHL produced a 69.2% increase of internal bond strength (IB), a 78.2% increase of modulus of rupture (MOR), and a 49.8% reduction of thickness swelling (TS). The bonding improvement was probably due to the generation of more oxygen-related functional groups and free radicals on the surface of EHL after the oxygen plasma treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]