Suitability of natural low transition temperature mixtures (LTTMs) for lignocellulosic biomass processing

Production of energy from renewable sources and the exploitation of natural biopolymer resources became a major driving force to develop new biomass processing technologies. Lignocellulosic biomass is considered as a valuable source for chemicals and fuel production. However, one of the major limitations for biomass transformation is the poor solubility of lignocellulosic materials in conventional solvents. Considering their excellent properties as solvents, ionic liquids (ILs) were successfully applied in biomass pretreatment and cellulose hydrolysis[1]. ILs however, have some limitations concerning cost, recyclability and biodegradability. Low transition temperature mixtures (LTTMs) show promising characteristics as alternative solvents for biomass processing among other applications [2]. In this work, a new family of LTTMs based on natural acids and choline chloride is studied. Most of the selected DESs showed high lignin solubility and very poor or negligible cellulose solubility. Therefore, the selectivities for the separation of lignin/cellulose are very high