Degradation of lignin in ionic liquid with HCl as catalyst

Lignocellulosic materials consist of 10-30% lignin by weight and 40% by energy (Perlack et al., 2005). As the highest energy component of plant biomass, lignin is composed of phenol units. Eco-friendly degradation of lignin in ILs provides an important way to utilize it efficiently. In this study, 1-methyl-3-benzylimidazolium chloride (BnMIMCl) and 1-methyl-3-benzylimidazolium trichloroacetate (BnMIMTFA) were applied for degradation liquefaction of lignin. The highest liquefaction efficiency of 75.45% was obtained under the optimized condition. This attributed to the good dissolving capability and assistance of ILs to lignin during the degradation. GC-MS analysis showed that 60% of low molecular products were phenols. (C) 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 35: 809-814, 2016