Chemical analysis of lignin
Supercritical fluid chromatography methods for lignin applications
Quantification of lignin monomers and beyond
Gas chromatography – flame ionization detection, along with diode-array (DAD) and charged aerosol detection (CAD) with ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) and ultrahigh performance supercritical fluid chromatography (UHPSFC), have been used to quantify lignin monomers and dimers. Due to the absence of chemical reference materials for lignin dimers and beyond, universal detection methods based on i.e. response factor prediction are being developed.
High-resolution mass spectrometry and advanced data analysis
High-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) such as QTOF and timsTOF are used in combination with UHPLC and UHPSFC to elucidate lignin oligomer structures in complex lignin samples, such as technical and depolymerized lignin. Novel workflows and data analysis tools are being developed to extract more information from the rich data generated by these techniques.
