In the present study, we used a low-cost protic ionic liquid, 1-methylimidazolium chloride, to simultaneously fractionate heavy metal contaminated wood and extract the metals from the wood at elevated temperature and short reaction time. This treatment selectively dissolves the lignin and hemicellulose in the biomass, leaving a solid cellulose-rich pulp, while coordinating and extracting 80–100% of the metal species present in the wood in a one-pot process. The lignin stream was recovered from the liquor and the cellulose was hydrolysed and then fermented into ethanol. The ionic liquid was recycled 6 times and the metals were recovered from the liquor via electrodeposition. This is the first time that highly contaminated waste wood has been integrated into a process which does not produce a contaminated waste stream, but instead valorises the wood as a feedstock for renewable chemicals, materials and fuels, while efficiently recovering the metals, converting a toxic environmental hazard into a rich source of biorenewables. We have therefore used an otherwise problematic waste as a low-cost lignocellulsoic feedstock for a circular bioeconomy concept.

中文翻译：

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迈向环境和经济可持续的生物精炼厂：重金属污染的废木料作为低成本离子液体工艺中的低成本原料

在本研究中，我们使用了一种低成本的质子离子液体1-甲基咪唑鎓氯化物，同时分馏重金属污染的木材，并在高温和短反应时间下从木材中提取金属。这种处理选择性地溶解了生物质中的木质素和半纤维素，留下了富含纤维素的固态纸浆，同时通过一锅法协调并提取了木材中80-100％的金属种类。从液体中回收木质素流，并将纤维素水解，然后发酵成乙醇。将离子液体循环使用6次，并通过电沉积。这是第一次将高度污染的废木材整合到一个不会产生受污染的废料流的过程中，而是将木材作为可再生化学品，材料和燃料的原料进行增值，同时有效地回收金属，转化为有毒物质。环境危害成为丰富的生物可再生资源。因此，我们将原本有问题的废物用作低成本生物木质纤维素原料，用于循环生物经济概念。