Lignocellulosic biomass is disassembled and depolymerised into three easily separable product streams, derived from lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose.

In-depth structural analysis of biorefined lignin is imperative to understand its physicochemical properties, essential for its efficient valorization to renewable materials and chemicals. Up to now, research on Reductive Catalytic...

In the last 5 years, reductive catalytic fractionation of lignocellulose biomass has emerged as a promising biorefinery concept that combines biomass fractionation with the preservation of chemical functionality in its products. Although significant efforts have been made in optimizing this technology on lab scale, the implementation on a larger (pilot) scale is still in its infancy. In our own search for the scale-up potential of this technology, we faced several fundamental and technical research questions that, to this day, remain unanswered. These fundamental questions are related to four main aspects of RCF, the lignocellulose feedstock, the operating pressure, the redox catalyst, and the solvent. In order to inspire future multidisciplinary research in the RCF community, these scale-up challenges are presented and discussed via multiple angles combining chemical process hurdles with more technical aspects, such as reactor design and process consequences.

During reductive catalytic fractionation of black locust bark, lignin and suberin are simultaneously depolymerized and stabilized. This results in low MW phenolics and long-chain, α,ω-bifunctional aliphatics.

By using unpurified solvents in a reductive catalytic wood fractionation process, its economics, sustainability and efficiency can be drastically improved.