Coproduction of Furfural, Phenolated Lignin and Fermentable Sugars from Bamboo with One-Pot Fractionation Using Phenol-Acidic 1,4-Dioxane

Abstract

A one-pot fractionation method of Moso bamboo into hemicellulose, lignin, and cellulose streams was used to produce furfural, phenolated lignin, and fermentable sugars in the acidic 1,4-dioxane system. Xylan was depolymerized to furfural at a yield of 93.81% of the theoretical value; however, the prolonged processing time (5 h) led to a high removal ratio of glucan (37.21%) in the absence of phenol. The optimum moderate condition (80 °C for 2 h with 2.5% phenol) was determined through the high fractionation efficiency. Consequently, 77.28% of xylan and 84.83% of lignin were removed and presented in the hydrolysate, while 91.08% of glucan was reserved in the solid portion. The formation of furfural from xylan remained high, with a yield of 92.92%. The extracted lignin was phenolated with an increasing content of phenolic hydroxyl. The fractionated lignin yield was 51.88%, which suggested this could be a low-cost raw material to product the activated carbon fiber precursor. The delignified pulp was subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis and the glucose yield reached up to 99.03% of the theoretical.

Keywords

• one-pot fractionation with acidic 1,4-dioxane
• Moso bamboo
• furfural
• phenolated lignin
• enzymatic hydrolysis
• high-efficiency fractionation