Electrochemical conversion of corn stover lignin to biomass-based chemicals between Cu/Ni-Mo-Co cathode and Pb/PbO2 anode in alkali solution

In this study, we put forward an effective method of producing renewable chemicals from corn stover lignin with electrochemical redox between the Cu/Ni-Mo-Co cathode and Pb/PbO2 anode in sodium hydroxide solution. Cyclic voltammetry tests and polarization curves were conducted to research the electrochemical oxidation performance of Pb/PbO2 anode and electrocatalytic hydrogenation of Cu/Ni-Mo-Co in lignin alkali solution. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were used to characterize the functional groups and molecular weight distribution of the lignin residue. By GC-MS analysis, it confirmed that there were 24 kinds of compounds in degradation products of alkali corn stover lignin. In addition to this, some commercial value chemicals including trans-ferulic acid, vanillin, 3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl-ethanone, syringaldehyde, acetosyringone and 4-methoxy-3-methyl-phenol were also observed. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.