Effective pretreatment of tea stem via poly-deep eutectic solvent for promoting platform molecule production and obtaining fluorescent lignin

In this study, polyethylene glycol 200 (PEG200) was employed as hydrogen bond acceptor, while organic acids served as hydrogen bond donors, to formulate poly-deep eutectic solvents (PDESs), which were utilized to pretreat tea stem. Specially, combining PEG200 and oxalic acid (OA) exhibited a notably high cellulose retention (82.03 %) and most efficient hemicellulose (97.02 %) and lignin removal (70.89 %). The removal of amorphous lignin enhanced the crystallinity of the residues and improved the conversion efficiency of cellulose into levulinic acid. Additionally, the structural alterations in lignin samples were analyzed in comparison to milled wood lignin (MWL). The PEG200-OA system facilitated the cleavage of β-O-4 and β-5 linkages and resulted in the degradation of S-type lignin, accompanied by increased condensation of G units. The resulting lignin displayed a reduced molecular weight (Mw of 1283 g/mol, Mn value 531 g/mol) and nanoscale particle size (D₅₀ 212 nm). Furthermore, fluorescent lignin was synthesized through simple oxidation and was used to detect metal ions. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations supported that both PEG200 and OA played a significant role in lignin dissolution, with the weak interactions between DES and lignin primarily driven by hydrogen bonding (characterized as weak, closed-shell, and electrostatic) and van der Waals forces.