Co-pyrolysis characteristics and kinetics of lignin and collagen

摘要

The authors have investigated apparent activation energies of volatiles emission when using (a) lignin alone, (b) collagen alone, or (c) lignin-collagen blends as a thermally-strengthened binder for high-density carbon product manufacturing. Apparent activation energies (E-a) computed by the Kissinger, the Weibull, and the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) methods showed the same trends: with the highest E-a for lignin alone (245 kJ/mol), and the lowest for collagen alone (194 kJ/mol). The blends pyrolysis exhibited synergistic presence of collagen, which could help initiate the pyrolysis mass loss reactions at 250-400 degrees C, and participate in the condensation reactions of aromatic fragments at 400-800 degrees C, leading to less emission of some gaseous products and more preservation of residual char. In prior Penn State work, it was observed that this thermally-induced preservation and condensation of aromatic structure increased the binding strength of the lignin-collagen binders. The work herein offers thermogravimetric concurrence and insight to this thermal-binding synergism. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.