Comparative study on the conversion of Acacia mangium wood sawdust-derived xylose-containing acid hydrolysate to furfural by sulfonated solid catalysts prepared from different lignocellulosic biomass residues

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This work focused on the thorough utilization of lignocellulosic biomass residues for the synthesis of carbonaceous sulfonated solid catalysts (CBSCs), which were then applied to the conversion of the same biomass source to furfural. Four different biomass materials were used, namely Acacia mangium wood sawdust, coconut shell (CS), sugarcane bagasse, and lignin-rich residue from an enzymatic saccharification of the wood sawdust. A facile multi-stage process for the preparation of CBSCs has been developed including impregnation, carbonization, and sulfonation at low temperature and long reaction time. Main characteristics of CBSCs including acidity, surface area, and surface morphology were analyzed through BET, EDS, TPD-NH3, SEM, FTIR. CBSCs were applied to the conversion of acid hydrolysate of Acacia mangium wood sawdust to furfural for evaluation of catalytic activity. Influences of catalyst dosage on the xylose conversion, the furfural yield, and the furfural selectivity were evaluated based on the synthesis carried out at 150 °C for 7 h for comparison of the effectiveness of CBSCs. The highest yield of furfural was 28.6% when using CS-CBSC at the catalyst loading of 0.1 g/g. Furfural selectivity reached the best value of 70.8% when LR-CBSC was used at the dosage of 0.2 g/g.