Deep Eutectic Solvents: Fractionation of Wheat Straw

Abstract

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are a relatively new topic in science. Their usage is not yet clearly defined, and the areas in which DESs may be applied are constantly growing. A simple and clean fractionation of the main components of biomass represents a very important step in creating a clean, renewable carbon economy. A major challenge is the use of DESs for fractionation of biomass components at lower temperatures, without the use of expensive raw materials. In this work, wheat straw was pretreated with six different DES systems composed of choline chloride with urea (1:2), malonic acid (1:1), lactic (1:9; 1:10), malic (1:1), and oxalic acid (1:1). The pretreated biomass was characterized in terms of lignin content, ash, and holocellulose. A deep eutectic solvent, composed of choline chloride and oxalic acid, was found to produce the best delignification results. The solvents are not selective in the process of delignification.

Keywords

• Lignin
• Delignification
• Deep eutectic solvents
• Biomass pre-treatment
• Fractionation