Use of Lignin Biochar As a Catalyst Support

A higher demand for fuel and greener energy has driven the development of second generation

biofuels. It has been proposed that liquid hydrocarbons can be synthesized from syngas using a carbon-

rich biochar support impregnated with iron catalyst. Our main objective focused on synthesizing lignin-

derived biochar support using a three-step process. The first step is producing lignin biochar—lignin

being a model component of biomass—by hydrothermally carbonizing lignin at subcritical temperatures

and pressures. The biochar was then activated by boiling it in a 0.1 M nitric acid solution reflux column.

After drying, it was mixed with iron nitrate and left in an oven. To optimize the surface area and better

the catalyst, the amount of impregnated time varied from one to seven days. Throughout the process,

the surface area was measured using a BET surface area analyzer and the surface was examined with

images from a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).