Microbial peroxide producing cell mediated lignin valorization

Lignin is one of the most abundant naturally occurring polymers and can produce value-added products such as vanillin and p-coumaric acid. In the current work, in-situ depolymerization of lignin for its valorization in a microbial peroxide-producing cell (MPPC) system was performed. It is an electrochemical cell that requires no external energy to produce H2O2 for the advanced oxidation process. Lignin in the MPPC system undergoes oxidative depolymerization to generate value-added products. The maximum open-circuit voltage (OCV) was 1.143 V, the current density and power densities were 14 mA/cm(2) and 13 mW/cm(2), respectively, along with the production of 26 mM of H2O2. The degradation of signature linkages such as beta-beta bond and beta-0-4 bond were analyzed and confirmed using FTIR spectroscopy. Vanillin, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, etc. were generated during depolymerization and were detected using LC-QTOF-MS.

Automated summary

In this study, in-situ depolymerization of lignin was performed in a microbial peroxide-producing cell system, resulting in the generation of value-added products such as vanillin and p-coumaric acid.