Treatment of Sugarcane Bagasse Lignin Employing Atmospheric Pressure Microplasma Jet in Argon

Abstract

Abstract An atmospheric argon rf microplasma jet was employed to treat lignin samples. The treatment time was carried out from 30 min to 4 h resulting in a strong degradation of the lignin structure. The most important degradation was observed in functional groups having asymmetric in‐phase ring stretching as well as in CC and CO stretching vibrations. Simple calculations may help us explain the OH bond breakings by electron collisions inside the microplasma. In the afterglow condition, it was not observed any change on the lignin spectra.