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Valorization of bagasse alkali lignin to water-soluble derivatives through chemical modification

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Abstract

Black liquor is the by-product of the pulping process where the lignin, hemicellulose, and extractive materials are separated from wood to produce paper pulp. As one of the primary lignin sources, black liquor is considered an important energy source from biomass to produce biofuels and value-added chemicals. However, soda alkaline lignin has limited industrial applications due to its insolubility in water and lack of reactivity. Therefore, chemical modification is essential to enhance its industrial applications. In this study, alkali lignin from bagasse was modified through sulfonation, sulfomethylation, and amination processes using different reaction conditions. The structural analysis of obtained products was investigated by FTIR and 1H-NMR. The molecular weight distribution and thermal stability of the water-soluble products were analyzed using gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. The elemental analysis was used to measure the elements (CHNSO) of the obtained water-soluble derivatives. The chemical structure analysis of the samples with FTIR and 1HNMR confirmed the modification processes. The results indicate that modification led to increased water solubility and a decrease in the precipitation pH of lignin samples, due to the introduction of sulfonate and amin functunal groups on lignin. In addition, the molecular weight and thermal stability of modified lignins were increased due to the presence of sulfonate and amine groups compared to unmodified lignin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Wood and Paper Science and Technology, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, 31585-4314, Iran

    Ali Abdulkhani, Zeinab Khorasani & Yahya Hamzeh

  2. Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, 81746-73441, Iran

    Fariborz Momenbeik

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London, WC1E 7JE, UK

    Zahra Echresh zadeh

  4. Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China

    Fubao Sun & Meysam Madadi

  5. Beijing Key Laboratory of Lignocellulosic Chemistry, College of Materials Science and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China

    XueMing Zhang

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  1. Ali Abdulkhani
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Abdulkhani, A., Khorasani, Z., Hamzeh, Y. et al. Valorization of bagasse alkali lignin to water-soluble derivatives through chemical modification. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 14, 8639–8647 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-022-02935-x

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