Kinetic Study and Optimization of Catalytic Peroxide Delignification of Aspen Wood

Abstract

It is established that the main regularities of the peroxide delignification of aspen wood in the temperature range of 70–100°С in the presence of dissolved (H₂SO₄) and solid (TiO₂) catalysts are similar. With an increase of the temperature, the concentration of hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid, and the hydromodule (HM) values, as well as the duration of the process and the content of cellulose in the cellulose products, increase, while the content of the residual lignin decreases. Simultaneously, the total yield of cellulose products decreases independently of the nature of the catalyst. Delignification processes are satisfactory described by the first-order equation. A sufficiently high activation energy (88 kJ/mol in the presence of H₂SO₄ and 75 kJ/mol in the presence of TiO₂) indicates the absence of significant external diffusion constraints in the selected conditions. The optimal conditions of obtaining cellulose products with a low content of residual lignin from aspen wood are found by the calculation methods. It is shown by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) that the structure of cellulose products obtained corresponds to the structure of industrial microcrystalline cellulose. In the optimal conditions, a high-quality cellulose product can be obtained in mild conditions (the temperature is 100°С, atmospheric pressure) by using a safer and technological TiO₂ catalyst instead of a sulfuric acid catalyst.