Conversion Furfural Residues Into Reducing Sugars with the Pretreatment of Ionic Liquid and Alkaline Peroxide

Abstract

Conversion and reuse of furfural residues are of great significance as the furfural residues are pollution-carrying biomass waste resources. However, the furfural residues must be pretreated to remove the lignin so as to improve the conversion efficiency. Here, we firstly reported an efficient pretreatment method which integrated uses ionic liquid and alkaline peroxide and found the synergic effect of them on the pretreatment of furfural residues. The pretreatment using [Bmim]Cl and NaOH/H2O2 shows the highest lignin elimination efficiency of 75.09%, which is 1.95 times of that [Bmim]Cl and 1.55 times of that NaOH/H2O2, respectively. The highest yield of reducing sugars is 50.4%. The pretreatment synergistic effect is attributed to the swelling property of the ionic liquid and the delignification of the alkaline peroxide. The effect of ionic liquids structures on pretreatments was also researched and the ionic liquids with Cl and short branched chain are superior for the lignin removal. This article gives an alternative technique for the pretreatment and conversion of furfural residues.