Photo-splitting xylose and xylan to xylonic acid and carbon monoxide

Abstract

Simultaneous direct production of fuels and chemicals via photocatalytic biomass conversion is an effective strategy to achieve the carbon-neutral goal but no studies on the co-production of CO and xylonic acid have been reported. Here, an efficient CIS/GO@3D-OMA photocatalyst of CdIn₂S₄ (CIS) anchored on graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets in a three-dimensional ordered mesoporous aerogel was prepared and successfully used in the co-generation of CO and xylonic acid. Experimental results showed that CIS/GO@3D-OMA-3 has broad light absorption, high charge density, and fast charge space separation. Correspondingly, the CO and xylonic acid yield achieved 1213.88 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ and 76.76% in the xylose system, respectively. Interestingly, the system is also applicable to xylan (CO: 187.20 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹; xylonic acid: 0.2 g g_xylan⁻¹). All h⁺, ˙OH, ¹O₂ and ˙O₂⁻ were conductive to CO and xylonic acid production, in which h⁺ played a primary role. This study provides a fresh perspective for biomass utilization.