Strongly adsorbent rough surface induced rapid hydrolysis of cellulose to sugar in the aqueous phase

Abstract

Efficiently obtaining sugar-based carbon sources from raw non-food substances as energy and materials to replace petroleum in an aqueous phase environment is a potential solution to the problem of rapidly growing energy demand and increasing environmental burden. In this work, hydrothermal carbonization was used to prepare solid acids with rough surfaces and abundant OH groups that produce localized strong adsorption with cellulose. These synergize with acidic groups to achieve effective hydrolysis of cellulose to sugar. In the pure water environment, 92.48% cellulose conversion was achieved, with TRS and glucose yields of 83.67% and 65.29%, respectively. It also showed good stability and recoverability. This work systematically investigates topological surface solid acids to promote cellulose hydrolysis, which is expected to solve the challenges of excessive chemical inputs in biomass refining to replace petroleum and the separation of sugar-based carbon sources.