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Ultraclean hybrid poplar lignins via liquid–liquid fractionation using ethanol–water solutions

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Abstract

As recovered from the byproducts stream of a cellulosic ethanol biorefinery, the renewable biopolymer lignin is too impure and polydisperse for many proposed applications. By mixing a hybrid poplar lignin with hot ethanol–water solutions, two liquid phases, one polymer-rich and one solvent-rich, are created. This liquid–liquid equilibrium phenomenon was used to generate solvated (and thus liquefied) lignin fractions of controlled molecular weight for which the impurities analyses for sugars and ash were near or below the limits of detection. Additionally, those carbohydrates and metals impurities end up highly concentrated in a single process stream also having potential value.

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Data availability

Supplemental tables have been provided that contain the relevant collected data for the experiments of this work.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) under agreement no. EE0008502. Partial equipment support was provided by the Center for Advanced Engineering Fibers and Films at Clemson University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634-0909, USA

    Graham Tindall, Bronson Lynn, Carter Fitzgerald, Lucas Valladares, Zachariah Pittman & Mark Thies

  2. Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59717, USA

    Villő Bécsy-Jakab & David Hodge

Authors
  1. Graham Tindall
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  2. Bronson Lynn
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  3. Carter Fitzgerald
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  4. Lucas Valladares
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  6. Villő Bécsy-Jakab
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  7. David Hodge
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  8. Mark Thies
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Correspondence to Mark Thies.

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Tindall, G., Lynn, B., Fitzgerald, C. et al. Ultraclean hybrid poplar lignins via liquid–liquid fractionation using ethanol–water solutions. MRS Communications 11, 692–698 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-021-00090-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-021-00090-4

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