Integral valorization of Acacia dealbata wood in organic medium catalyzed by an acidic ionic liquid

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2021-12, Vol.342, p.126013-126013, Article 126013
• Main Authors: Portela-Grandío, A., Peleteiro, S., Yáñez, R., Romaní, A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acacia; Acacia dealbata; Acidic ionic liquid; Biorefinery; Catalysis; Delignification; Hydrolysis; Ionic Liquids; Lignin; Organosolv; Wood
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.126013

•Acacia dealbata was delignified by ionic liquid catalyzed organosolv pretreatment.•Temperature and IL-catalyst had the most significant effect on wood fractionation.•High cellulose recovery was achieved at 190 °C, 60% of ethanol, 1 h and 0.6 g IL/g wood.•67 % of lignin was recovered and characterized from the black liquor. In this work, a novel delignification process was proposed for the fractionation of invasive species such as Acacia dealbata wood. Organosolv process catalyzed with an acidic ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrosulfate was evaluated to obtain cellulose-enriched solids and liquid fractions rich in hemicelluloses derived compounds and lignin. Under selected operating conditions (190 °C, 60% ethanol, 60 min of reaction time and 0.6 g 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrosulfate/g wood), high solubilization of lignin and hemicelluloses and cellulose recovery (87.5%, 88.7% and 88.3%, respectively), with a pulp yield of 43.1% were achieved. Moreover, 62.6 % of lignin was recovered by precipitation from the black liquor (composed mainly by 4.43 g xylose/L, 7.66 g furfural/L and 3.59 g acetic acid/L). In addition, enzymatic digestibility of delignified wood was also assayed. Overall, this work presents an alternative biorefinery scheme based in the use of environmentally friendly solvent and catalyst for selective fractionation of A. dealbata wood.