Functional relationship of furfural yields and the hemicellulose-derived sugars in the hydrolysates from corncob by microwave-assisted hydrothermal pretreatment

Biotechnology for Biofuels

Huiling Li²  Xiaofeng Chen²  Junli Ren²  Hao Deng²  Feng Peng¹  Runcang Sun¹ 

[1] Beijing Key Laboratory of Lignocellulosic Chemistry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China

[2] State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China

关键词: Heterogeneous catalysis;    Microwave-assisted hydrothermal pretreatment;    Two-step process;    Furfural;    Depolymerization of hemicelluloses;    Corncob;   

Others  :  1228153
DOI  :  10.1186/s13068-015-0314-z

 received in 2015-02-24, accepted in 2015-08-13,  发布年份 2015

【 摘 要 】

Background

Corncob as one of the most suitable feedstock for the production of a variety of high-value-added chemicals is receiving increasing attention worldwide because of the characteristics of high carbohydrate (cellulose and hemicelluloses) contents and high energy densities. Furfural produced from hemicelluloses is a highly versatile and key feedstock used in the manufacture of a wide range of biofuel and important chemicals in different fields. Achieving high furfural yields from corncob combining green approaches and efficient equipment has the promising potential for biomass-to-biofuel technologies. To understand the dissolving mechanism of corncob sugars and reveal the relationship between the hydrolysate composition and furfural yields, a two-step approach was proposed using microwave-assisted hydrothermal pretreatment and subsequently heterogeneous catalytic process.

Results

Released hemicelluloses in the first stage were mainly in forms of monosaccharide, oligosaccharides, and water-soluble polysaccharide. Hydrolysates with the maximum xylose content (99.94 mg g ⁻¹ , 160 °C, 90 min), the maximum xylobiose content (20.89 mg g ⁻¹ , 180 °C, 15 min), and the maximum total xylose content in monosaccharide and oligosaccharides (DP ≤ 6) (272.06 mg g ⁻¹ , 160 °C, 60 min) were further converted to furfural using tin-loaded montmorillonite as the catalyst in a biphasic system. The highest furfural yield (57.80 %) was obtained at 190 °C for 10 min from hydrolysates with the maximum xylose content. Moreover, controlled experiments showed that furfural yields from corncob hydrolysates were higher than those from the pure xylose solutions, and lower initial xylose concentration may be in favor of the furfural production.

Conclusions

This work provides an efficient approach to produce furfural by a two-step process for the biomass-to-biofuel industry. Results indicated that the production of furfural from biomass raw materials can be controlled by the depolymerization degree of hemicelluloses.

【 授权许可】

   
2015 Li et al.

【 图 表 】

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