VEGETOS: Revista internacional de investigación vegetal

Efficient organic solvent system used to separate the cellulose and lignin of Poplar

Hao Zhang, Ying She, Xue Zheng and Junwen Pu

Efficient organic solvent system used to separate the cellulose and lignin of Poplar

An efficient organic solvent system was formulated in this study to isolate the cellulose and lignin of Poplar from Hebei. The lignin solvency of ethanol was enhanced by 4-methyl-2-pentanone, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and formic acid. The holocellulose and α-cellulose contents of the isolated cellulose were tested with the methods of Chinese National Standards GB/T 2677.10-1995 and GB/T 744-2004. Isolated cellulose was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). The chemical structural of the separated lignin was tested by nuclear magnetic resonance (13C-NMR). The holocellulose content of the separated cellulose was 96.07% and the content of α-cellulose was 90.71%. The chemical and crystal structures of isolated cellulose were affected somewhat by the organic solvent system. The condensation of guaiacyl units and the decomposition of β-O-4 units were the main features of the isolated lignin..