Sustainable Electrochemical Depolymerization of Lignin in Reusable Ionic Liquids.

ABSTRACT: Lignin's aromatic building blocks provide a chemical resource that is, in theory, ideal for substitution of aromatic petrochemicals. Moreover, degradation and valorization of lignin has the potential to generate many high-value chemicals for technical applications. In this study, electrochemical degradation of alkali and Organosolv lignin was performed using the ionic liquids 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate and triethylammonium methanesulfonate. The extensive degradation of the investigated lignins with simultaneous almost full recovery of the electrolyte materials provided a sustainable alternative to more common lignin degradation processes. We demonstrate here that both the presence (and the absence) of water during electrolysis and proton transport reactions had s

SUBMITTER: Dier TKF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5505966 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature