Muangmeesri S, Li N, Georgouvelas D, Ouagne P, Placet V, Mathew AP, Samec JSM. Holistic Valorization of Hemp through Reductive Catalytic Fractionation.
ACS Sustain Chem Eng 2021;
9:17207-17213. [PMID:
34976442 PMCID:
PMC8715730 DOI:
10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c06607]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2021] [Revised: 12/10/2021] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Despite the increased use of hemp fiber, negligible attention has been given to upgrade the hemp hurd, which constitutes up to 70 wt % of the hemp stalk and is currently considered a low-value byproduct. In this work, valorization of hemp hurd was performed by reductive catalytic fractionation (RCF) in the presence of a metal catalyst. We found an unexpectedly high yield of monophenolic compounds (38.3 wt %) corresponding to above 95% of the theoretical maximum yield. The high yield is explained by both a thin cell wall and high S-lignin content. In addition, organosolv pulping was performed to generate a pulp that was bleached to produce dissolving-grade pulp suitable for textile fiber production (viscosity, 898 mL/g; ISO-brightness, 90.2%) and nanocellulose. Thus, we have demonstrated a novel value chain from a low-value side stream of hemp fiber manufacture that has the potential to increase textile fiber production with 100% yield and also give bio-oil for green chemicals.
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