Characterization of Milled Wood Lignin (MWL) in Loblolly Pine Stem Wood, Residue, and Bark

Milled wood lignin samples from Loblolly pine stem wood, forest residue, and bark were isolated and characterized by quantitative C-13 and P-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) for molecular weight determination. Results from C-13 NMR show the stem wood and forest residue samples have similar functional group contents. However, the bark has fewer methoxyl groups, beta-O-4 structures, dibenzodioxocin, and side chains than the other two lignins. The bark lignin has the highest amounts of p-hydroxyphenyl (h) and C-5 condensed lignin, stem wood has the lowest, and the residue lies between. P-31 NMR analysis indicates that bark lignin contains more C-S substituted phenolics and fewer aliphatic hydroxyl groups than the lignin isolated from stem wood or residue. The molecular weight distribution analysis indicates the bark lignin has higher weight-average molecular weight ((M-w) over bar) and polydispersity index than the lignin recovered from stem wood or residue.