TY - JOUR
T1 - Oxidative depolymerization of lignosulfonates to low-molecular weight aromatics
T2 - an interlaboratory study
AU - Norberg, Mynta
AU - Bekirovska, Selda
AU - Klein, Jana
AU - Moeller, Finn
AU - Gustafson, Karl P.J.
AU - Sandahl, Margareta
AU - Hulteberg, Christian P.
AU - Turner, Charlotta
AU - Abdelaziz, Omar Y.
AU - Waldvogel, Siegfried R.
AU - Spégel, Peter
AU - Bengtsson, Oskar
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 RSC.
PY - 2025/10/1
Y1 - 2025/10/1
N2 - In the pursuit of sustainable chemical production, feedstock diversification is essential. Lignosulfonates, a water-soluble aromatic byproduct of the sulfite pulping process, offer a green alternative for producing value-added compounds such as vanillin via oxidative depolymerization. However, current depolymerization processes are not comparable due to inconsistencies in feedstocks and a lack of validated analytical methods. In the present study, we developed and validated a novel sample preparation and GC/FID method for quantifying vanillin, vanillic acid, and acetovanillone. Three oxidation processes—continuous alkaline (CA), heterogeneous metal-catalysed (HMC), and electrochemical nickel anode (ENA)—were optimized and compared using the same feedstock. A round-robin test ensured analytical comparability across different labs. The analytical method demonstrated high precision (<5% intra-lab, <10% inter-day, and <25% inter-lab RSD) for all compounds. The HMC oxidation process yielded the highest total monomer concentration (4.3 g L−1) and monomer yield (8.7 wt%), while CA oxidation achieved the highest volumetric productivity (up to 840 g (L × h)−1). Future work should explore hybrid approaches leveraging the strengths of these oxidative lignin depolymerisation processes.
AB - In the pursuit of sustainable chemical production, feedstock diversification is essential. Lignosulfonates, a water-soluble aromatic byproduct of the sulfite pulping process, offer a green alternative for producing value-added compounds such as vanillin via oxidative depolymerization. However, current depolymerization processes are not comparable due to inconsistencies in feedstocks and a lack of validated analytical methods. In the present study, we developed and validated a novel sample preparation and GC/FID method for quantifying vanillin, vanillic acid, and acetovanillone. Three oxidation processes—continuous alkaline (CA), heterogeneous metal-catalysed (HMC), and electrochemical nickel anode (ENA)—were optimized and compared using the same feedstock. A round-robin test ensured analytical comparability across different labs. The analytical method demonstrated high precision (<5% intra-lab, <10% inter-day, and <25% inter-lab RSD) for all compounds. The HMC oxidation process yielded the highest total monomer concentration (4.3 g L−1) and monomer yield (8.7 wt%), while CA oxidation achieved the highest volumetric productivity (up to 840 g (L × h)−1). Future work should explore hybrid approaches leveraging the strengths of these oxidative lignin depolymerisation processes.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105017718454
U2 - 10.1039/d5su00698h
DO - 10.1039/d5su00698h
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105017718454
SN - 2753-8125
VL - 3
SP - 4818
EP - 4824
JO - RSC Sustainability
JF - RSC Sustainability
IS - 10
ER -