Issue 6, 2018

Products of sugar beet processing as raw materials for chemicals and biodegradable polymers

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of alternative uses for products of sugar beet processing, especially sucrose, as chemical raw materials for the production of biodegradable polymers. Traditionally, sucrose has not been considered as a chemical raw material, because of its use in the food industry and high sugar prices. Beet pulp and beetroot leaves have also not been considered as raw materials for chemical production processes until recently. However, current changes in the European sugar market could lead to falling demand and overproduction of sucrose. Increases in the production of white sugar will also increase the production of waste biomass, as a result of the processing of larger quantities of sugar beet. This creates an opportunity for the development of new chemical technologies based on the use of products of sugar beet processing as raw materials. Promising methods for producing functionalized materials include the acidic hydrolysis of sugars (sucrose, biomass polysaccharides), the catalytic dehydration of monosaccharides to HMF followed by catalytic oxidation of HMF to FDCA and polymerization to biodegradable polymers. The technologies reviewed in this article will be of interest both to industry and science.

Graphical abstract: Products of sugar beet processing as raw materials for chemicals and biodegradable polymers

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
25 Pun 2017
Accepted
03 Phe 2018
First published
17 Phe 2018
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2018,8, 3161-3177

Products of sugar beet processing as raw materials for chemicals and biodegradable polymers

J. Tomaszewska, D. Bieliński, M. Binczarski, J. Berlowska, P. Dziugan, J. Piotrowski, A. Stanishevsky and I. A. Witońska, RSC Adv., 2018, 8, 3161 DOI: 10.1039/C7RA12782K

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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