Thermal Degradation of Cellulose and Chitin in Supercritical Acetone

Abstract

Degradation of natural or man‐made polymers in supercritical acetone offers considerable advantages because sensitive products can be detected and secondary reactions largely suppressed. Cellulose and chitin serve as examples to demonstrate the conveint nature of this procedure.

Accessing Novel Process Windows in a High‐Temperature/Pressure Capillary Flow Reactor

“…Conceptually similar continuous flow equipment has already been described in the late 1970s by Köll and Metzger [48]. In these setups a stainless steel coil was combined with standard HPLC equipment, i.e., pumps, pressure valves, etc., and a GC oven as a heat source to reach high temperatures (340°C) and pressures (250 bar) under continuous flow conditions.…”

“…In these setups a stainless steel coil was combined with standard HPLC equipment, i.e., pumps, pressure valves, etc., and a GC oven as a heat source to reach high temperatures (340°C) and pressures (250 bar) under continuous flow conditions. Using this experimental platform, various chemical processes were studied under high temperature conditions, including the thermal degradation of cellulose and chitin, pericyclic and radical reactions, in addition to various pyrolysis and redox processes [48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60]. More recently, a closely related platform has been described by a process group from Eli Lilly for a thermal rearrangement using supercritical solvents [61].…”

Characteristics and kinetics of degradation of polystyrene in supercritical water

“…A supercritical fluid possesses a density close to that of liquid and has the ability to dissolve many components, whereas its high diffusivity and low viscosity enable it to behave in a manner similar to gas. Koll and Metzger used supercritical acetone to study the degradation of cellulose and chitin 1. Dhawan et al decomposed polyisoprene and waste rubber using supercritical toluene 2.…”

Production of solubilized carbohydrates from lignocellulosic biomass using solvent liquefaction

“…A comparison of properties, costs and sustainability aspects of different polar aprotic solvents is given in solvents could be a competitive option for cellulosic sugar production due to its great benefits in terms process economics and sustainability. Since mid-twentieth century, several researchers have reported that 1,4-Dioxane, sulfolane and acetone can be used to liquefy cellulose to generate high yields of levoglucosan without using catalysts [105][106][107]. However, the trailblazing work in lignocellulosic sugar production using polar aprotic solvents, led by a research team from University of Wisconsin, Madison, dates back to only 2014.…”