(400c) Electrochemical Oxidation of Lignin for Production of Value-Added Chemicals Using a Flow Electrochemical Reactor

Lignin as the second most plentiful natural polymer on earth is composed of monomeric aromatic compounds showing a great potential to be a renewable source of valuable chemicals. Electrochemical oxidation of lignin offers several advantages over catalytic or enzymatic processes such as having control over the reaction by controlling the potential or current, and feasibility of the process at relatively low temperature and pressure. The high cost of materials for preparing typical electrodes (i.e., noble metal electrodes like Pt), and their possible deactivation during the reaction due to the adsorption of intermediates, which blocks active sites, makes the electrochemical oxidation of lignin potentially complicated and expensive. In this work, we present the results of electrochemical oxidation of lignin using an efficient, stable and non-toxic electrocatalyst with a high catalytic activity toward lignin oxidation, and minimal deactivation over time. Cyclic voltammetry experiments were carried out to study the activity of the catalyst toward electrochemical oxidation of lignin. A flow electrochemical reactor was employed to estimate the conversion rate of lignin at different constant current densities and flow rates to find the optimum operating condition of the reactor.