Hydrolysis of Cellulose by Amorphous Carbon Bearing SO₃H, COOH, and OH Groups

Abstract

The hydrolysis of cellulose into saccharides using a range of solid catalysts is investigated for potential application in the environmentally benign saccharification of cellulose. Crystalline pure cellulose is not hydrolyzed by conventional strong solid Brønsted acid catalysts such as niobic acid, H-mordenite, Nafion and Amberlyst-15, whereas amorphous carbon bearing SO 3H, COOH, and OH function as an efficient catalyst for the reaction. The apparent activation energy for the hydrolysis of cellulose into glucose using the carbon catalyst is estimated to be 110 kJ mol (-1), smaller than that for sulfuric acid under optimal conditions (170 kJ mol (-1)). The carbon catalyst can be readily separated from the saccharide solution after reaction for reuse in the reaction without loss of activity. The catalytic performance of the carbon catalyst is attributed to the ability of the material to adsorb beta-1,4 glucan, which does not adsorb to other solid acids.

High-Surface-Area Mesoporous Activated Carbon from Hemp Bast Fiber Using Hydrothermal Processing

“…The large peak at 23.4° 2θ (C(002)) in Figure 4 corresponds to the amorphous carbon structure. The weak and broad C(100) peak at 2θ = 40-50° is attributed to the a axis of the graphite structure [38]. The XRD patterns for all three investigated samples are very similar.…”

Synthesis of renewable diesel with the 2-methylfuran, butanal and acetone derived from lignocellulose

“…Amberlyst is sulfonicacid-functionalized cross-linked polystyrene resin Weingarten et al, 2011). However, sulfated mesoporous carbon is amorphous carbon bearing SO 3 H, COOH and phenolic OH groups which function as acid sites (Suganuma et al, 2008). In Nafion resins, the acid strength of SO 3 H group is enhanced by the presence of fluorine, which makes its acid strength higher than Amberlyst resins and sulfated mesoporous carbons (Mauritz and Moore, 2004).…”

Lignosulfonate-based heterogeneous sulfonic acid catalyst for hydrolyzing glycosidic bonds of polysaccharides

“…The acid-base titration method was modified from literature [15]. In the first test, about 0.1 g of catalyst was put into 20 mL NaCl (2 M) solution.…”

“…Acid and enzyme are among the most common catalysts for hydrolyzing cellulose into glucose [10,11]. In recent years, recyclable solid acids for cellulose hydrolysis have attracted great attentions [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. However, achieving high selectivity and activity still remains a challenging task.…”

“…However, achieving high selectivity and activity still remains a challenging task. This is mainly because cellulose is a class of multihydroxyl molecules, which are reluctant to be adsorbed to a single active site [15]. Therefore the hydrolysis reaction was usually conducted under fierce conditions.…”