Preparation of biomass hydrochar derived sulfonated catalysts and their catalytic effects for 5-hydroxymethylfurfural production

Abstract

Amorphous carbon-based sulfonated catalysts were generated from four kinds of biomass (lignin, cellulose, wood meal and D-xylose) by hydrothermal carbonization at various temperatures (225, 245 and 265 uC) followed by sulfonation, with a yield of 36-56%. All of these catalysts showed aromatic structure, hydroxyl and carboxyl groups, with a density of SO 3 H groups between 0.56 and 0.87 mmol g 21 . 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was produced from inulin in ionic liquids (ILs) in one step with the addition of carbon-based sulfonated catalysts, with a factual yield of 47-65% at 100 uC, 60 min. Moderate extension of reaction time (from 30 to 90 min) and increase of temperature (from 80 to 120 uC) promoted HMF production. Ethyl acetate was used as extractant, and about 39-55% of HMF can be recovered from ILs. One problem with these carbon-based sulfonated catalysts was that they would be partly deactivated in ILs for separate reuse, however, they can be easily regenerated by dilute sulfuric acid treatment. The carbon-based sulfonated catalysts exhibited good catalytic activity compared with traditional solid acid catalysts, and the carbon-based sulfonated catalyst/ILs reaction system showed high reusability. In consideration of the renewable as well as the high catalytic activity abilities, these biomass derived carbonbased sulfonated catalysts would be promising for industrial application.

Hydrothermal Carbonization of Biomass for Energy and Crop Production

“…Further investigations have revealed the presence of various substance groups with toxic potential, which also vary with feedstock and production conditions. Hydrochars contain variable amounts of organic acids, phenols, PCDD´s (polychlorinated dibenzodioxins), PCDF´s (polychlorinated dibenzo-furans), and HMF (hydroxymethylfurfural) [90,91,94,100]. Although numerous groups are currently working on the question of which substance is responsible for toxic effects, this question is unanswered so far.…”

“…Therefore, hydrochar exists in different states from slurry to dry material with a sometimes hydrophobic character. As discussed above, hydrochar can contain toxic substances [22,30,[90][91][92][93][94]. A variety of tests are adapted to assess the ecotoxicological effects of hydrochar on soil biota (Table 3).…”

Production, characterization, and biogas application of magnetic hydrochar from cellulose

“…Porous carbon materials derived from HTC have been reported as base materials in various practical applications such as catalytic supports, adsorbents, lithium-ion batteries, sodium ion batteries, drug delivery, solid fuel, and gas storage media Jiang et al, 2010;Reza et al, 2013aReza et al, ,b, 2014c. However, hydrochar, the solid product of HTC, needs to be activated or functionalized thermally or chemically prior to its material use (Kang et al, 2013).…”

Conversion of carbohydrates into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in an advanced single-phase reaction system consisting of water and 1,2-dimethoxyethane

“…3,4 Therefore, the efficient and economical conversion of carbohydrates to HMF is crucial to biomass utilization. 1,2 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a dehydration product of C 6 carbohydrates, is one of the 10 most value-added bio-based platform chemicals, as it can be used in the synthesis of chemicals and liquid fuels.…”