Ammoxidation of straw-pulp alkaline lignin by hydrogen peroxide

A novel method that used hydrogen peroxide as an oxidizer to ammoxidize straw-pulp alkaline lignin was studied. The purpose of this research was to find a more efficient way to utilize technical lignin, which is a major pollutant in China. The ammoxidation process was employed to nitrogen-modify straw-pulp lignin using ammonia liquor and hydrogen peroxide. At the desirable conditions, such as 120 degrees C, 90 min reaction time, 20% hydrogen peroxide charge, and 20% ammonia charge, the nitrogen content of the ammoxidized product reached 11.62% and the ammonia nitrogen was 4.12%. The study showed that hydrogen peroxide could completely substitute for oxygen as an oxidizer for ammoxidizing alkaline lignin. Straw-pulp alkaline lignin can be effectively converted into slow-release fertilizer.