Valorization of Lignocellulosic Biomass toward Multipurpose Fractionation: Furfural, Phenolic Compounds, and Ethanol

Scientific achievement

  Hemicellulose, lignin, and cellulose were successfully fractionated from lignocellulosic biomass by cascade pretreatment with p-TsOH and γ-valerolactone (GVL), then integrated with series conversion processes, including hemicellulose degradation, lignin depolymerization, cellulose enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol fermentation, high yield and high selectivity of furfural, phenolic compounds, and ethanol were obtained.

Significance and impact

  The described integrated approach exhibited a practical significance for green fractionation of biomass components and comprehensive use of the lignocellulose resource.

Research details

1、Hemicellulose was first removed and subsequently converted into furfural with an average yield of 63.38% by p-TsOH.

2、Lignin was extracted from pretreated substrate using GVL, and was subsequently upgraded to phenolic monomers by hydrogenation with a yield of 76.41%.

3、The leftover cellulose rich solid was enzymatically hydrolyzed to glucose with a theoretical yield of 92.57%; the subsequent fermentation lead to a high yield of ethanol production (41.08 g/L).

DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b03766