Conversion study from lignocellulosic biomass and electric energy to H2 and chemicals

The efficient use of lignocellulosic biomass resources is of great significance to solve environmental pollution and energy crisis. Therefore, the understanding of the reactivity of lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose, which are the major components of lignocellulosic biomass, on chemical and hydrogen conversion is necessary. So combined with proton exchange membrane electrolysis cell, using polyoxometalate (POM) as the oxidizing agent and electron stockpile carrier, the cyclic electrolytic hydrogen production and degradation of lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose have been researched in detail. Among them, lignin degraded the best (96.81%), and the average Faradaic efficiency of the herein system was also the highest (95.93%). These results exhibit high conversion efficiency from electric energy to hydrogen energy. Simultaneously, without harsh conditions, lignin is mainly degraded to vanillin, hemicellulose is mainly converted to ester compounds, and cellulose is mainly converted to alcohol compounds, which provides an experiment basis for future chemical conversion. & COPY; 2022 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The efficient utilization of lignocellulosic biomass resources is important for addressing environmental pollution and energy crisis. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the reactivity of lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose, which are the major components of lignocellulosic biomass, in chemical and hydrogen conversion. In this study, proton exchange membrane electrolysis cell was combined with polyoxometalate (POM) as the oxidizing agent and electron stockpile carrier to investigate the cyclic electrolytic hydrogen production and degradation of lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose. The results showed high conversion efficiency from electric energy to hydrogen energy, with lignin showing the best degradation (96.81%) and the average Faradaic efficiency of the system being the highest (95.93%). These findings provide an experimental basis for future chemical conversion, with lignin mainly degraded to vanillin, hemicellulose converted to ester compounds, and cellulose converted to alcohol compounds.