Performance Analysis of Hybrid Metal-Graphene Frequency Reconfigurable Antennas In The Microwave Regime

Lignin is a complex heteroaromatic polymer which is one of the most abundant and diverse biopolymers on the planet. It comprises approximately one third of all woody plant matter, making it an attractive candidate as an alternative, renewable feedstock to petrochemicals to produce fine chemicals, such as vanillin. Hereinwe outline the comprehensive tracking of lignin degradation by an alkaliphilic laccase in a semi-quantitative manner using a combined chemical analysis approach utilising Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) to characterise shifts in chemical diversity and relative abundance of ions, and NMR to highlight changes in the structure of lignin. Specifically,an alkaliphilic laccase was used to degrade an industrially relevant lignin,with compounds such as syringaresinol being almost wholly removed (95%) after 24 hours of treatment. Additionally, structural analyses reinforced these findings, indicating a >50% loss of signal relating to b-b linkages, of which syringaresinol is representative. Ultimately, this work underlines a combined analytical approach that can be used to gain a broader, moresemi-quantitative understanding of the enzymatic activity of laccases within a complex and non-model mixture. The dataset is related to the upcoming publication Zak Towle, Faye Cruickshank, C. Logan Mackay, David J. Clarke and Louise E. Horsfall (in submission), 'Tracking the Chemical Diversity of Enzymatically Oxidised Lignin.'