In-situ extraction of depolymerization products by membrane filtration against lignin condensation

Virginie Steinmetz (1, 2) , Maud Villain-Gambier (1) , Armand Klem (3) , Isabelle Ziegler (2) , Stephane Dumarcay (2) , Dominique Trebouet (1)

1 DSA-IPHC - Département Sciences Analytiques et Interactions Ioniques et Biomoléculaires
2 LERMAB - Laboratoire d'Etude et de Recherche sur le Matériau Bois
3 Norske Skog Golbey SAS

Catalytic depolymerization of lignin is a challenging process due to competitive repolymerization reactions. In this paper, the oxidative depolymerization of lignin was catalyzed by a commercial laccase both in a batch experiment and in a membrane bioreactor using the same catalytic conditions. The membrane bioreactor was previously optimized to reach high permeation flux (25 L.h−1.m−2) during lignin diafiltration. While the lignin was exclusively condensed in the batch experiment leading to high molecular weight macromolecules (from 9 to 16 kDa), its depolymerization was effective in the bioreactor producing fragments of less than 1 kDa thanks to the in-situ extraction of the reaction products. This paper demonstrates that the reactor configuration is playing an essential role in triggering or preventing lignin condensation. It also reports the first proof-of-concept demonstrating that in-situ membrane extraction of the reactive fragments of lignin from the bulk medium can be useful against detrimental repolymerization reactions.

Mots clés: lignin depolymerization; membrane filtration; bioreactor; condensation; laccase

Domaines: Chimie

Virginie Steinmetz, Maud Villain-Gambier, Armand Klem, Isabelle Ziegler, Stephane Dumarcay, et al.. In-situ extraction of depolymerization products by membrane filtration against lignin condensation. Bioresource Technology, 2020, 311, pp.123530. ⟨10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123530⟩. ⟨hal-02882142⟩