Experimental and mathematical optimization of the peroxide delignification of larch in the presence of MnSO4 catalyst
Experimental and mathematical methods were used to obtain the optimal parameters of peroxide delignification of larch in the presence of MnSO4 catalyst, which provide a high yield of cellulose (44.3 wt.%) with a low content of residual lignin: temperature 100 °C, content of H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> 6 wt.%, CH<sub>3</sub>COOH 25 wt.%, hydromodulus 15, and duration 3 h. The cellulose produced under optimal conditions had the following chemical composition: cellulose 92.7 wt.%, lignin 0.6 wt.%, and hemicellulose 5.7 wt.%. IR spectroscopy and XRD studies revealed that the structure of cellulose produced from larch is similar to that of industrial microcrystalline cellulose. The proposed catalytic method allows obtaining larch-derived cellulose with a minimum content of lignin under mild conditions in a single step with a high yield, crystallinity 0.8 and crystallite size 3.0 nm.