Oriol Tomas Badell

Title : Screening of ionic liquids (IL) and deep eutectic solvents (DES) through COSMO-RS for the efficient lignocellulosic fractionation of peach stone cover

Abstract:

Peach stone is a major waste in the food processing industry. However, the shell contains a high lignocellulosic content (80 % of lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose) which make it a potential valuable by-product. The increasing shift towards circular bioeconomy requires not only reintroduce waste into the production chain, but also to find green alternatives to conventional extraction methods. The lignocellulosic fractionation is a challenging step needed for the separation of their components prior to their use as platform chemicals, carbon fibers or textile fibers (among others). In the recent years, Ionic Liquids (IL) and Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES) have emerged as sustainable alternatives to conventional fractionation methodologies, such organosolvent, acidic or alkaline pretreatment. The combination of different low-cost IL/DES with the software COnductor-like Screening Model for Realistic Solvents (COSMO-RS) lead us to an efficient screening for the selection of the best candidates for the lignocellulosic fractionation of peach stone shell. By applying two different approaches, one for each type of solvent, based on the Kamlet-Taft parameters, we were able to test more than 20 IL and DES and find three of them with similar or even greater extraction efficiency than the well-known triethylammonium hydrogen sulphate, used as a reference. The analytical techniques such as FTIR, GPC and ³¹P-NMR confirmed the extraction products as carbohydrate rich fraction (containing mainly celluloses and hemicelluloses) and a lignin rich fraction, showing differences among solvents in terms of yield, composition and structure. This work provides an efficient methodology to screen solvents for the fractionation of lignocellulosic materials, regardless the starting material, and peach stone shell as a potential valuable by-product.

Audience Take Away

• The audience will learn that peach stone can be a valuable resource
• The research will add knowledge on the screening of potential solvents for lignocellulosic fractionation
• ​​​​​​​The COSMO-RS application could lead to a simplified screening methodology
• ​​​​​​​The fractionation products can lead to new potential applications

Biography:

Oriol Tomàs studied Biotechnology at the University of Lleida (UdL), Spain and graduated in 2019. He then completed an MSc in Industrial Chemistry and Chemical Research at Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Spain. During his studies, he interned with Turner Biocatalysis group in the MIB, Manchester, and later joined the Sensors and Biosensors group (UAB) for his master's thesis project on developing a point-of-care immunoassay for exosome detection. Since 2021, Oriol has been involved with the Organic Chemistry Group at the UdL as a predoctoral fellow focusing on green and sustainable alternatives for obtaining valuable compounds from non-edible biomass waste.