Impact of Temperature an Order of Magnitude Larger Than Electrical Potential in Lignin Electrolysis with Nickel

Lignin, a major component of plant biomass, is a promising sustainable alternative carbon‐based feedstock to petroleum as a source of valuable aromatic compounds such as vanillin. However, lignin upgrading reactions are poorly understood due to its complex and variable molecular structure. This work focuses on electrocatalytic lignin upgrading, which is efficient and sustainable at moderate temperatures and pressures and does not require stoichiometric reagents. We used a meta‐analysis of published lignin conversion and product yield data to define the operating range, to select the catalyst, and then performed electrocatalytic experiments. We quantified the impact of temperature and electrical potential on the formation rate of valuable products (vanillic acid, acetovanillone, guaiacol, vanillin, and syringaldehyde). We found that increasing temperature increases their formation rate by an order of magnitude more than increasing electrical potential. For example, increasing temperature from 21 to 180 °C increases the vanillin formation rate by +16.5 mg⋅L−1⋅h−1 ±1.7 mg⋅L−1⋅h−1, while increasing electrical potential from 0 to 2 V increases the vanillin formation rate by −0.6 mg⋅L−1⋅h−1 ±1.4 mg⋅L−1⋅h−1. When converting lignin to valuable products by electrocatalysis with nickel catalyst, increasing temperature from 21 to 180 °C increases the formation rate of vanillin by 16.5 mg L−1 ⋅ h−1 whereas increasing electrical potential from 0 to 2 V decreases the formation rate of vanillin by 0.6 mg L−1 h−1.