Catalytic Degradation of Lignin over Sulfonyl-Chloride-Modified Lignin-Based Porous Carbon-Supported Metal Phthalocyanine: Effect of Catalyst Concentrations

Abstract

A sulfonyl-chloride-modified lignin-based porous carbon-supported metal phthalocyanine catalyst was prepared and used to replace the traditional Fenton’s reagent for lignin degradation. The catalyst underwent a detailed characterization analysis in terms of functional group distributions, surface area, morphological structure, via FT-IR, XPS, BET, and SEM. The catalyst possessed a specific surface area of 638.98 m2/g and a pore volume of 0.291 cm3/g. The prepared catalyst was studied for its ability of oxidative degradation of lignin under different reaction conditions. By optimizing the reaction conditions, a maximum liquid product yield of 38.94% was obtained at 135 °C with 3.5 wt% of catalyst and 15 × 10−2 mol/L H2O2; at the same time, a maximum phenols selectivity of 32.58% was achieved. The compositions and properties of liquid products obtained from lignin degradation using different catalyst concentrations were studied comparatively via GC-MS, FT-IR, 1H-NMR, and EA. Furthermore, the structure changes of solid residues are also discussed.