Abstract

Increasing petroleum prices, concerns over security of supply and about climate change are major drivers in the search for alternative renewable energy sources, and the biorefinery from lignocellulosic biomass could be an alternative to obtain biofuels and biomaterials. Currently, the lignin from biomass is mainly used as a fuel in power generation in the pulp industry, however, it can also be considered as a raw material with high potential for transformation, and could be used for the production of different material such as; carbon fiber, adhesives, activated carbon, and various other phenolic and aromatic compounds with high added-value. Resins based on phenol-formaldehyde (PF) are widely used as an adhesive in the wood panel industry, there is also the increasing demand for plywood and fiberboards that leads to a high consumption of phenol and an opportunity for searching new sources of raw material to replace phenol in formulations . An alternative for partial or total replacement of the phenol, which is a petroleum-based product, is the use of natural phenolic compounds such as lignin. In this work, it was studied and assessed relevant characteristics of different types of lignins from Eucalyptus globulus (hardwood), obtained from different pretreatments to subsequent production of ethanol. The lignins used were: Organosolv lignin (LOE), Steam explosion lignin (LSE) and Kraft lignin (LK) from commercial origin (alkali lignin from Sigma Aldrich).