Effective conversion of saccharides into hydroxymethylfurfural catalyzed by a natural clay, attapulgite. (May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yang, Fengli; Weng, Jushi; Ding, Jiajing; Zhao, Zhiyan; Qin, Lizhen; Xia, Feifei
• Is Part Of: Renewable energy. Volume 151(2020)
• Page Start: 829
• Page End: 836
• Publication Date: 2020-05
• Subjects: 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural -- Attapulgite -- Starch -- Inulin -- Glucose -- Fructose; Renewable energy sources -- Periodicals; Power resources -- Periodicals; Énergies renouvelables -- Périodiques; Ressources énergétiques -- Périodiques; 333.794
• DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2019.11.084
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0960-1481

Abstract

Abstract: 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is considered as a platform chemical derived from C6 sugars, which can be transformed into various important biochemicals and biofuels. The preparation of HMF in an efficient and green way is of great significance for its large scale production. Attapulgite modified by phosphoric acid (ATP-P) has been used to transform saccharides (fructose, glucose, inulin and starch) into HMF in a 2-butanol-water biphasic system with satisfactory results, in which HMF yields of 96.3% and 50.4% were obtained from fructose and starch, respectively. The amount of Brønsted acid sites of ATP notably increases after modification by phosphoric acid, which endows ATP with a proper B/L ratio (Brønsted acid sites to Lewis acid sites) for HMF production. This B/L ratio is necessary because the production of HMF from saccharides is a multistep mechanism that involves isomerization catalyzed by Lewis acid sites and dehydration by Brønsted acid sites. Moreover, the catalyst provides good stability because the catalytic activity remained nearly unchanged after it was used 4 times. This work provides a green and economic alternative for biomass conversion using natural clays as catalysts. Graphical abstract: This work provides a green and economic alternative for biomass conversion using natural clay, attapulgite, as catalysts, which is effective to polysaccharides hydrolysis and conversion into HMF after phosphoric acid activation, and 96.3% and 50.4% of HMF yields were obtained from fructose and starch respectively. Besides, the catalyst shows good stability in water containing system, which has little change after 4 recycles. Image 1 Highlights: Phosphoric acid modified attapulgite exhibit an excellent performance in HMF production. 96.3% and 50.4% of HMF yields were obtained from fructose and starch, respectively. The catalyst shows good stability in water containing system. Tandem reaction of hydrolysis and dehydration can be realized by attapulgite in biphasic system. Brønsted acid sites of the catalyst increased obviously after phosphoric acid modification.