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Improved lignin pyrolysis over attapulgite-supported solid acid catalysts

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Abstract

An efficient process for the pyrolysis of Kraft lignin using attapulgite (ATP) as catalyst was developed in the present work. Compared with the common catalyst carriers of γ-Al2O3, ZSM-5, and diatomite, ATP with rich Lewis acid and Bronsted acid sites gave the lowest residue yield of 33.9% and the highest monomers yield of 7.96% at 500 °C for 1 h. ATP-supported catalyst SZA was optimally selected from the fabricated ATP-supported catalysts (SZA, S2O82−/ATP, Nb2O5/ATP, MgO/ATP, and CaO/ATP), resulting in a residue yield of 16.4% and a monomer yield of 11.5% at the optimized temperature of 600 °C. Moreover, good feedstock adaptability of the selected catalyst was also confirmed. The plausible reaction pathways of lignin degradation by catalytic pyrolysis over ATP-supported catalysts involving demethoxylated phenols and alkylated phenols formation were proposed. In addition, it was also found that the ATP-supported catalyst was effective for the upgrading of bio-oil obtained from lignin liquefaction in a mixture solvent of ethanol/1,4-dioxane/formic acid, which laid a good foundation for the further value-added utilization of bio-oil.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Plan of China (2016YFD0600801), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NO. 21908075), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (NO. BK20190105), and the Open Project of Jiangsu Key Lab for Biomass-based Energy and Enzyme Technology (BEETKC1803).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biomass-based Energy and Enzyme Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Regional Modern Agriculture & Environmental Protection, Huaiyin Normal University, Huaian, 223300, China

    Zhen Wu, Jiming Xu, Lei Hu & Yetao Jiang

  2. College of Chemical Engineering, , Jiangsu Provincial Key Lab for Chemistry and Utilization of Agro-forest Biomass, Jiangsu Key Lab of Biomass-Based Green Fuels and Chemicals, Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resource, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China

    Fei Wang, Jun Zhang & Xinxu Zhao

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  1. Zhen Wu
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  2. Fei Wang
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  3. Jiming Xu
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Correspondence to Zhen Wu.

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Wu, Z., Wang, F., Xu, J. et al. Improved lignin pyrolysis over attapulgite-supported solid acid catalysts. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 12, 1049–1058 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-020-00667-4

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