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Separation of high-yield and high-purity lignin from Elm wood using ternary deep eutectic solvents

  • Yinglong Wu EMAIL logo , Renyuan Song , Yanfang Tai , Wei Wang and Liu Zhong EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: April 23, 2025
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Nordic Pulp & Paper Research Journal
From the journal Nordic Pulp & Paper Research Journal Volume 40 Issue 2

Abstract

This study indicates that superior performance of novel ternary deep eutectic solvents (DES) system, formulated from choline chloride (ChCl) mixture of formic acid (Fa), pyruvic acid (Pa), and tartaric acid (Ta), exhibits remarkable efficacy in selective separation and purification of lignin from biomass. The woody biomass of Elm was pretreated with ternary of carboxylic-acid-based DES of ChCl as hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA), Lac, Fa, Pa, and Ta served as hydrogen bond donors (HBD) under the predetermined conditions. Benefitting from the efficient process, using optimized DES system (ChCl/Lac/Fa, 1:6:1, 6 h and 120 °C), it showed that the yield and purity of lignin obtained from material was 86.53 % and 90.45 %, which was more efficient than the results of binary DES system of the pretreatment process. In addition, the recovered lignin was subjected to comprehensive structural characterization employing Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. DES lignin was found to have a complete aromatic structure, that consisted mainly of β-β, β-O-4 bonds in different contents. These findings confirm the significant advantages of the new novel ternary DES system, which facile separated lignin from the lignocellulosic matrix under mild conditions, that providing a new reference value for efficient separation of biomass resources.

Keywords: deep eutectic solvents; separation; lignin; efficient; high purity
Corresponding authors: Yinglong Wu, School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Bengbu University, Bengbu, 233030, China, E-mail: ; and Liu Zhong, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China, E-mail:

Funding source: Anhui Provincial Talent Launch Project

Award Identifier / Grant number: No. 2024YYX47QD

Funding source: Anhui Provincial Department of Education

Award Identifier / Grant number: No. 2024AH051166

Funding source: Major Project of Natural Science Foundation of the Anhui Higher Education Institutions of China

Award Identifier / Grant number: No. 2023AH040362

  1. Research ethics: The local Institutional Review Board deemed the study exempt from review.

  2. Informed consent: Not applicable.

  3. Author contributions: Yinglong Wu: writing-original draft, data analysis, performed the experiments. Renyuan Song: investigation, data curation. Yanfang Tai: methodology, conceptualization. Wei Wang: investigation, conceptualization. Zhong Liu: review, editing. All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  4. Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.

  5. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing financial interest.

  6. Research funding: Anhui Provincial Department of Education (No. 2024AH051166); Anhui Provincial Talent Launch Project (2024YYX47QD); the Major Project of Natural Science Foundation of the Anhui Higher Education Institutions of China (No. 2023AH040362).

  7. Data availability: The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Received: 2025-02-26
Accepted: 2025-04-09
Published Online: 2025-04-23
Published in Print: 2025-06-26

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

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  4. Mechanical Pulping
  5. Development of handsheet mechanical properties linked to fibre distributions in two-stage low consistency refining of high yield pulp
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  12. Drying characteristics and numerical simulation of tissue paper
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  16. Integrating barrier chemicals into coating systems for optimized white top testliner performance
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  22. Assessing the impact of substituting hypo sludge (paper pulp) in cement and introducing natural fiber in the form of human hair to enhance compressive strength in concrete
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  24. Atomization numerical simulation of high solids content bamboo pulping black liquor based on VOF model
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  27. In-situ construct dynamic bonds between lignin and PBAT by epoxidized soybean oil to improve interfacial compatibility: processing, characterization, and antibacterial activity for food packaging
  28. Separation of high-yield and high-purity lignin from Elm wood using ternary deep eutectic solvents
https://doi.org/10.1515/npprj-2025-0008
Keywords for this article
deep eutectic solvents; separation; lignin; efficient; high purity

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Bleaching
  3. The effect of xylanase on the fine structure of a bleached kraft softwood pulp
  4. Mechanical Pulping
  5. Development of handsheet mechanical properties linked to fibre distributions in two-stage low consistency refining of high yield pulp
  6. Paper Technology
  7. Analysis of finger ridges in paper manufacturing and development of a qualitative model of their formation
  8. Paper Physics
  9. Microfibrillated cellulose coatings for biodegradable electronics
  10. Paper Chemistry
  11. Preparation of CMC-β-CD-sulfaguanidine and its application for protection of paper
  12. Drying characteristics and numerical simulation of tissue paper
  13. Hemicellulose as an additive in papermaking
  14. Coating
  15. Synthesis of carboxymethyl cellulose-β∼cyclodextrin-coated sulfaguanidine and its enhanced antimicrobial efficacy for paper protection
  16. Integrating barrier chemicals into coating systems for optimized white top testliner performance
  17. Printing
  18. Quantifying optical and mechanical contributions to dot gain
  19. Packaging
  20. The impact of cellulosic pulps on thermoforming process: effects on formation time and drainage efficiency
  21. Environmental Impact
  22. Assessing the impact of substituting hypo sludge (paper pulp) in cement and introducing natural fiber in the form of human hair to enhance compressive strength in concrete
  23. Recycling
  24. Atomization numerical simulation of high solids content bamboo pulping black liquor based on VOF model
  25. A review of the fractionation and properties of lignin derived from pulping black liquor and lignocellulose pretreatment
  26. Lignin
  27. In-situ construct dynamic bonds between lignin and PBAT by epoxidized soybean oil to improve interfacial compatibility: processing, characterization, and antibacterial activity for food packaging
  28. Separation of high-yield and high-purity lignin from Elm wood using ternary deep eutectic solvents
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