resumo
Lignosulfonates (LS) from acidic magnesium-based sulfite cooking of Eucalyptus globulus wood were modified via laccase-catalyzed oxidative treatment with the aim to improve their performance as plasticizing additives in concrete formulations. The target parameters were the increment of molecular weight (M-w) and the amount of oxidized groups. The laccase-assisted oxidation under optimized conditions (40 degrees C, pH 4.5, enzyme loads of 83-500 U g(-1) for 90 min) allowed M-w increment up to 11-fold and almost doubled the amount of carbonyl and carboxyl groups without using any mediators. Modified LS maintained their solubility in water and possessed a zeta-potential close to that of initial LS. The characterization of modified LS has been carried out by ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) and quantitative C-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and the sulfonic and phenolic groups were assessed by conductometric titration. It was concluded that IS polymerization occurred mostly via the formation of new aryl ether bonds (two thirds of the modification) and biphenyl bonds (the remaining third). However, part of the newly formed bonds of unknown origin are temperature labile and cleaved during the concentration of LS at pH 4 and 80 degrees C under vacuum, which led to the reduction of the M-w of the modified lignin to almost one third.
palavras-chave
RESIDUAL LIGNIN; MODEL COMPOUNDS; POLYMERIZATION; SYSTEMS
categoria
Forestry; Materials Science
autores
Magina, S; Barros-Timmons, A; Evtuguin, DV
nossos autores
agradecimentos
This work was developed within the scope of the project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, FCT Ref. UIDB/50011/2020 & UIDP/50011/2020, financed by national funds through the FCT/MCTES and when appropriate co-financed by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement. Sandra Magina acknowledges FCT for the PhD grant SFRH/BD/121275/2016. The NMR spectrometers are part of the National NMR Network (PTNMR) and are partially supported by Infrastructure Project No. 022161 (co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE 2020, POCI and PORL and FCT through PIDDAC).