Solvent Fractionation of Lignin from Sugarcane Bagasse

The objective of this work was to examine lignin fractionation from sugarcane bagasse using three organic solvents. Lignin derived from lignocellulosic sources such as sugarcane bagasse can be used as sources of low molecular weight aromatic compounds. These compounds can be used as chemical building blocks for the production of high value materials. In this work, organic solvent fractionation using methanol, ethanol and acetone were used to fractionate lignin from sugarcane bagasse. It was demonstrated that among these solvents the acetone and ethanol fractionated higher concentrations of lignin from bagasse. This indicated that these two solvents can be used to obtain lignin components from which low molecular weight aromatic components can be derived that have various applications.