Hydrolytic depolymerization of hydrolysis lignin: Effects of catalysts and solvents.

Hydrolytic depolymerization of hydrolysis lignin (HL) in water and water-ethanol co-solvent was investigated at 250°C for 1h with 20% (w/v) HL substrate concentration with or without catalyst (H2SO4 or NaOH). The obtained depolymerized HLs (DHLs) were characterized with GPC-UV, FTIR, GC-MS, (1)H NMR and elemental analyzer. In view of the utilization of depolymerized HL (DHL) for the preparation of rigid polyurethane foams/resins un-catalyzed depolymerization of HL employing water-ethanol mixture appeared to be a viable route with high yield of DHL ∼70.5wt.% (SR yield of ∼9.8wt.%) and with Mw as low as ∼1000g/mole with suitable aliphatic (227.1mgKOH/g) and phenolic (215mgKOH/g) hydroxyl numbers. The overall % carbon recovery under the selected best route was ∼87%. Acid catalyzed depolymerization of HL in water and water-ethanol mixture lead to slightly increased Mw. Alkaline hydrolysis helped in reducing Mw in water and opposite trend was observed in water-ethanol mixture.