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Hydrogenolysis of alkali lignin via a non-precious Co-Mo bimetallic catalyst supported on attapulgite-Ce0.75Zr0.25O2

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Abstract

Lignin is the world’s greatest renewable aromatic biomass resource, with considerable potential for the development of high-value-added compounds. Herein, wet impregnation was employed to create Co-Mo/ATP-CZO bimetallic catalysts, which were then used to catalyze the depolymerization of lignin in ethanol and isopropanol. The findings of the characterization revealed that doping Mo metals resulted in the change of metallic oxide phase, which increased the oxygen vacancy (OV), improved metal-carrier interaction, and decreased acid center content. The results of the experiments demonstrated that catalytic hydrogenation with a 12Mo-20Co/ATP-CZO catalyst at 240 °C for 8 h produced the maximum yield of bio-oil (57.44 wt%, including 37.58 wt% of monomer). Under these conditions, the bio-oil had a higher heating value of 33.20 MJ/kg, which was significantly higher than the alkali lignin’s 19.62 MJ/kg. Catalyst stability tests also revealed good recyclability. This research will provide an efficient method for depolymerizing lignin.

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Funding

This research was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21774059).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China

    Jiajia Chen, Pengcheng Xiu & Xiaoli Gu

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  1. Jiajia Chen
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  2. Pengcheng Xiu
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Contributions

J. C. and P. X. performed experiments. J. C. and X. G. conceived research, analyzed data, and wrote the manuscript with help from all the others.

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Correspondence to Xiaoli Gu.

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Highlights

• Co-Mo bimetallic catalyst exhibited excellent activity on lignin depolymerization.

• The addition of Mo promoted the production of fuel and phenol monomers from lignin.

• Co-Mo/ATP-CZO catalyst shown higher selectivity compared with Co/ATP-CZO.

• Maximally 57.44 wt% of monomeric and dimeric degradation products was obtained.

• The HHV of liquid product was increased from 28.35 to 33.20 MJ/kg.

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Chen, J., Xiu, P. & Gu, X. Hydrogenolysis of alkali lignin via a non-precious Co-Mo bimetallic catalyst supported on attapulgite-Ce0.75Zr0.25O2. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 14, 11389–11401 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-022-03166-w

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