Researchers Produce Lignin from Hydrolysis Liquor

A team of researchers from Åbo Akademi University in Finland and Lakehead University in the US proposed acidification as a possible method to extract lignin compounds from the hot water hydrolysis liquor. The acidification of hydrolysis liquor allowed the extraction of lignin compounds from the liquor, leaving behind fermentation inhibitors, such as furfural and acetic acid. The team then used membrane dialysis to remove inorganic salts from lignin compounds. The purified lignin compounds were found to be thermally stable.

Based on their results, the team proposed a process for producing purified lignin and precipitates of volatile compounds from the hydrolysis liquor.