Efficient Mechanochemical-Assisted Production of Glucose from Cellulose in Aqueous Solutions by Carbonaceous Solid Acid Catalysts

Abstract

A carbonaceous solid acid catalyst with −Cl and −SO 3 H groups was facilely synthesized in one step by the cocarbonization of sucralose and p-toluenesulfonic acid. The as-prepared carbonaceous solid acid catalyst was used for the hydrolysis of cellulose into glucose in aqueous solutions. When the cellulose was first mixed with the as-prepared catalyst by ball milling, the cellulose hydrolysis process provided a glucose yield of 52.8% in pure water at 200 °C within 1 h, and the glucose yields increased to 71.9% and 88.0% in dilute 0.02 wt % H 2 SO 4 and HCl (with same proton content) aqueous solutions, respectively. The excellent catalytic activity for the production of glucose from cellulose was ascribed to the decreased degree of crystallinity of the cellulose and the improved contact between the active sites in the catalyst and the β-1,4-glycosidic bonds in the cellulose molecules due to the ball-milling pretreatment. Moreover, the as-prepared carbonaceous solid acid catalyst exhibited relatively stable catalytic activity over five cycles. This paper provides a promising strategy for the high-yield production of glucose from cellulose hydrolysis in aqueous solutions, and it offers wide application for the transformation of lignocellulosic biomass into valuable chemicals.

Mechanocatalytic Synergy for Expedited Cellulosic Ethanol Production Compatible with Integrated Biorefinery

“…For solid acid systems, although the acidification of cellulose is avoided, low substrate loading (<10 mg/mL) limits production of concentrated glucose solutions, resulting in high energy consumption (Table S1 entries S5−S13). 24,25,27,28,31 Furthermore, the increase of substrate loading is limited by the higher catalyst loading due to the mass transfer limitation. In addition, the separation of catalyst from the real biomass hydrolysis residue is also a big challenge.…”

Effect of Adsorption of ZrO2 in Catalysts on the Efficiency of Hydrolysisof Cellulose to Sugar in Aqueous System under Microwave Radiation

“…This crystalline structure hinders the rapid entry of water and acid into the inner of cellulose particles and thus reduces the speed of hydrolysis. Accordingly, a lot of researches began to focus on the preparation of cellulose with the aim of weakening the structural inhibition to hydrolyze . However, the removal of crystalline structure cannot fundamentally change the self‐aggregation nature of cellulose molecular chains.…”

“…The inherent high crystallinity of cellulose can significantly hinder the contact of the glycosidic bond with the acid catalyst and thus increases the difficulty of hydrolysis . In order to reduce the crystallinity as much as possible, some pretreatment including dissolution‐regeneration, ball milling, and boiling with supercritical water are emphasized to utilize. By obtaining the cellulose with relatively low crystallinity, a novel two‐step methodology is formed to hydrolyze cellulose effectively.…”

Sorbitol Cyclodehydration to Isosorbide Catalyzed by Acidic Carbon Obtained from Reaction By‐Product

“…The peak at around 1600 cm −1 could be corresponded to the stretching vibrations of aromatic‐like C=C in poly‐aromatic sketch . The vibration peaks at 1031 cm −1 , 1163 cm −1 , combined with peaks centered at 1006 cm −1 and 1398 cm −1 were identified, confirming the successful grafting of ‐SO 3 H groups onto the poly‐aromatic carbon structure …”

“…[23] The vibration peaks at 1031 cm À 1 , 1163 cm À 1 , combined with peaks centered at 1006 cm À 1 and 1398 cm À 1 were identified, confirming the successful grafting of -SO 3 H groups onto the poly-aromatic carbon structure. [35] Furthermore, the XPS spectrum of acidic carbon was showed in Figure 5. From Figure 5(a), the peaks at 530 eV, 284 eV and 168 eV were attributed to the O1s, C1s and S2p binding energy respectively, which further confirmed the presence of C, O and S on the surface of carbon-based catalyst.…”