• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.355-363
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• 2015

Asian lignin was efficiently depolymerized with supercritical ethanol and Ru/C catalyst at various reaction temperature (250, 300, and $350^{\circ}C$). Lignin-oil was subjected to several physicochemical analyses such as GC/MS, GPC, and elemental analysis. With increasing reaction temperature, the yield of lignin-oil decreased from 89.5 wt% to 32.1 wt%. The average molecular weight (Mw) and polydispersity index (Mw/Mn) of lignin-oil obtained from $350^{\circ}C$ (547Da, 1.49) dramatically decreased compare to those of original asian lignin (3698Da, 2.68). This is a clear evidence of lignin depolymerization. GC/MS analysis revealed that the yield of monomeric phenols involving guaiacol, 4-ethyl-phenol, 4-methylguaiacol, syringol, and 4-methysyringol increased with increasing reaction temperature, and these were mostly produced with applying hydrogen gas and Ru/C catalyst (76.1 mg/g of lignin). Meanwhile, the carbon content of lignin-oil increased whereas the oxygen content decreased with increasing reaction temperature, suggesting that hydrodeoxygenation was significantly enhanced at higher temperature.