Kinetic Study of the Decomposition of Cellulose to 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural in Ionic Liquid

Abstract

The kinetics of cellulose decomposition in ionic liquid was investigated using microcrystalline cellulose as a raw material. Curve fitting of cellulose degradation kinetic data was carried out by MATLAB. Experimental results demonstrated that the cellulose decomposition rate constant, k1, was less than the constant for glucose decomposition to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), k2, in the ionic liquid system, gaining a larger gap with increasing temperature. Results indicated that cellulose degradation is a slow reaction compared with glucose decomposition, which controls the speed of the overall reaction steps. CrCl3 increased the rate constant of cellulose and glucose degradation to almost the same degree, thus achieving simultaneous conversion of cellulose, glucose, and 5-HMF. Compared with other reaction systems, the ionic liquid system considerably reduced activation energy. Regression analysis of kinetic data indicated that the catalytic decomposition reactions of cellulose, glucose, and 5-HMF are all first-order reactions.

Study of Hydrolysis Process from Pineapple Leaf Fibers using Sulfuric Acid, Nitric Acid, and Bentonite Catalysts

“…Otherwise, the bentonite catalyst supported with Lewis acid improves the cellulose degradation due to Al as transition metal has numerous empty orbitals which can be occupied by lone pair electrons from oxygen in hydroxyl of cellulose generating the change in reaction mechanism as well as reducing the reaction of energy barrier as shown in Figure 7. A similar mechanism also appeared in a previous study using CrCl3 catalyst for degradation of cellulose into glucose and HMF in variation temperature among 140 °C to 170 °C [24].…”

Organocatalytic Dehydration of Fructose-Based Carbohydrates into 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural in the Presence of a Neutral Inner Salt

“…Herein, in continuation of our work on green catalytic production of HMF, − we have explored imidazolium- and pyridinium -based zwitterionic-type molten salts, viz., inner salts, as a new class of neutral organocatalysts in the dehydration of fructose-based carbohydrates into HMF. These requisite zwitterionic-type inner salts have been designed and prepared to elucidate the cooperation of the cation and anion.…”