Lignin derived hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents as sustainable extractants

Authors

Yuxuan Zhang, University of KentuckyFollow
Qi Qiao, University of KentuckyFollow
Usman Lame Abbas, University of KentuckyFollow
Jun Liu, Kansas State UniversityFollow
Yi Zheng, Kansas State UniversityFollow
Christopher Jones, Kansas State UniversityFollow
Qing Shao, University of KentuckyFollow
Jian Shi, University of KentuckyFollow

Abstract

Solvent innovation has become a central task for improving the sustainability of chemical processes1. Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) emerge as environmentally friendly alternatives to toxic and volatile organic solvents. One appealing aspect for DESs is that they can be synthesized using naturally occurring compounds from biomass. Herein, we prepared novel hydrophobic DESs based on lignin derivatives and characterized their physicochemical properties including density, viscosity, and thermal behavior. The results showed that five lignin-derived hydrophobic DESs made from menthol, thymol, and 2,6-dimethoxyphenol were promising as green solvents due to their low viscosities and environmentally friendly constituents. To evaluate the potential application of these DESs, liquid-liquid extraction was performed to recover the typical biofuel fermentation products including acetone, ethanol, n-butanol, and isopentanol from aqueous solutions. High distribution coefficients, selectivity, and recovery rates for acetone, n-butanol, and isopentanol were achieved with the thymol: 2,6-dimethoxyphenol DESs. Moreover, molecular dynamic simulations were conducted to investigate the DES molecular interactions and formation mechanism. This work demonstrates the potential of lignin derived hydrophobic DESs for applications as sustainable extraction media.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-2023

Notes/Citation Information

0959-6526/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.135808

Funding Information

The authors acknowledge US Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (under contract #1015068 and #1018315) and University of Kentucky Igniting Research Collaborations for financial support of the research. We thank Ming Wang, YT Cheng, Andrew Drake, Steve Rankin, and Doo Young Kim at the University of Kentucky for their help on the viscosity, DSC, and FTIR measurements. We are also grateful to Thomas A. Everett from the Enhanced Oil Recovery Laboratory at Purdue University for density analysis.

Repository Citation

Zhang, Yuxuan; Qiao, Qi; Abbas, Usman Lame; Liu, Jun; Zheng, Yi; Jones, Christopher; Shao, Qing; and Shi, Jian, "Lignin derived hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents as sustainable extractants" (2023). Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications. 357.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/markey_facpub/357