Characterization of sulfur in wood pulps using pyrolysis-gas chromatography with sulfur-selective detection: Part 1. Fractionated pyrolysis

Abstract A new analytical method for the characterization of sulfur in wood and chemical pulps has been developed. The method involves fractionated pyrolysis using pyrolysis-gas chromatography (Py-GC). In fractionated pyrolysis, the sample is pyrolyzed at different temperatures in order to study particular fractions of the sample and to minimize secondary effects. In the new method, each sample is pyrolyzed at progressively increasing temperatures from 300 to 1350°C and afterwards combusted at 1350°C. The pyrolysis products are separated using a gas chromatograph equipped with a flame photometric detector (FPD) for selective detection of the sulfur-containing pyrolysis products. To develop the suggested new method, the influence of different pyrolysis parameters on the formation of sulfur-containing pyrolysis products from sulfur-treated softwoods was studied. Reference materials such as human protein and wood primary cell wall layer, rich in wood protein, were pyrolyzed in order to understand the formation of sulfur-containing products from different chemical functionalities in the biomolecules. The detection limit of the method is 1 ng.