Oxidative Depolymerization of Lignin Using Supported Niobium Catalysts
1
Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Campus Box 7625, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7625, USA
2
Department of Statistics, Campus Box 8203, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8203, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
ChemEngineering 2017, 1(2), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/chemengineering1020017
Received: 18 October 2017 / Revised: 17 November 2017 / Accepted: 20 November 2017 / Published: 29 November 2017
Valorization of lignin into aromatics has driven researchers for decades. In this research, niobium was deposited on oyster shells (OSNC) and carbon rods (CRNC) and tested as a catalyst for depolymerization of lignin. Catalysts (2%, 5%, and 8% loading) were synthesized via wet impregnation. Batch experiments were performed at 95 °C, using 8 g of lignin, and 1 g of catalyst. Our research indicates that niobium supported catalysts are effective in partial oxidation of lignin. Maximum vanillin concentration for OSNC was found to be 86.25 mg L−1 (0.1 wt%) at 5% niobium whereas, as for CRNC, maximum vanillin concentration was found to be 139.40 mg L−1 (0.17 wt%) at 2% niobium loading. Addition of hydrogen peroxide into the batch reactor decreased the concentration of vanillin production.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
lignin; catalytic oxidation; niobium; carbon rod; oyster shell
▼
Show Figures
Figure 1
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Das, L.; Kolar, P.; Sharma-Shivappa, R.; Classen, J.J.; Osborne, J.A. Oxidative Depolymerization of Lignin Using Supported Niobium Catalysts. ChemEngineering 2017, 1, 17.
Show more citation formats
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
