Issue 1, 2016

Hydrolysis of woody biomass by a biomass-derived reusable heterogeneous catalyst

Abstract

Biomass is the sole carbon-based renewable resource for sustaining the chemical and fuel demands of our future. Lignocellulose, the primary constituent of terrestrial plants, is the most abundant non-food biomass, and its utilisation is a grand challenge in biorefineries. Here we report the first reusable and cost-effective heterogeneous catalyst for the depolymerisation of lignocellulose. Air oxidation of woody biomass (Eucalyptus) provides a carbonaceous material bearing an aromatic skeleton with carboxylic groups (2.1 mmol g−1) and aliphatic moieties. This catalyst hydrolyses woody biomass (Eucalyptus) to sugars in high yields within 1 h in trace HCl aq. Furthermore, after the reaction, the solid residue composed of the catalyst and insoluble ingredients of woody biomass is easily transformed back to fresh catalyst by the same air oxidation method. This is a self-contained system using woody biomass as both the catalyst source and substrate for realising facile catalyst preparation and recycling.

Graphical abstract: Hydrolysis of woody biomass by a biomass-derived reusable heterogeneous catalyst

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
08 Sep 2015
Accepted
14 Oct 2015
First published
15 Oct 2015
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2016,7, 692-696

Hydrolysis of woody biomass by a biomass-derived reusable heterogeneous catalyst

H. Kobayashi, H. Kaiki, A. Shrotri, K. Techikawara and A. Fukuoka, Chem. Sci., 2016, 7, 692 DOI: 10.1039/C5SC03377B

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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