Nanoarchitectonics of sulfonated biochar from pine needles as catalyst for conversion of biomass derived chemicals to value added products
Nisha Kumari, Tripti Chhabra, Sahil Kumar, Venkata Krishnan
Abstract
Utilizing waste lignocellulosic biomass to synthesize biofuel precursors constructs an important way to solve the current energy crisis. In this work, we have prepared a sulfonated acid catalyst from pine needles derived biochar using chlorosulfonic acid for conversion of fructose to levulinic acid and levulinic acid to ethyl levulinate. In the best optimized conditions, sulfonated biochar as a catalyst exhibited excellent catalytic activity for the fructose conversion to levulinic acid and its esterification to ethyl levulinate with yield 33% and 97%.
Topics & Concepts
Levulinic acidBiocharCatalysisBiomass (ecology)ChemistryLignocellulosic biomassOrganic chemistryYield (engineering)BiofuelFructosePulp and paper industryWaste managementMaterials sciencePyrolysisHydrolysisAgronomyBiologyEngineeringMetallurgyCatalysis for Biomass ConversionSupercapacitor Materials and FabricationBiofuel production and bioconversion