Biobleaching of pulp with dioxygen in laccase-mediator system—effect of variables on the reaction kinetics

Comparative studies were carried out on the kinetics and mechanism of pulp biobleaching with laccase-mediator system (LMS) with two different mediators, 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HOBT) and N-hydroxyacetanilide (NHAA). The optimal NHAA and laccase charge was found to be 0.1 mmol and 10 U per gram of pulp with pulp consistency of 10%, at the reaction temperature of 40 °C for 8 h under atmospheric pressure, respectively. The kinetic studies on Kappa number reduction and dioxygen uptake suggest that a very fast rate of delignification with NHAA at the beginning of the process is the result of fast formation of the oxidized mediator species. However, a very slow delignification rate after the initial phase (0.5–1 h) could be caused by low stability of the mediator species. After the reaction time of 2 h, the degree of delignification is higher when HOBT is used as mediator. In contrast to the delignification with NHAA, the formation of the oxidized mediator species is the rate-determining step of the pulp biobleaching with dioxygen in the LMS using HOBT as mediator. Increase in temperature increases the rate of chemical reactions, but decreases the laccase stability. The optimal temperature for pulp biobleaching with HOBT and laccase from Coriolus versicolor is 40 °C. Increasing oxygen pressure improves the efficiency of delignification due to better penetration of the reagents, but does not affect the rate of chemical reactions. The reaction mechanism is discussed based on the kinetic data.