Hydrolysis of Cellulose to Produce Glucose in Ionic Liquid-Water Mixtures

Abstract

The lignocellulose is a widespread renewable resource. With the decrease of the petrochemical resources, lignocellulose is very important as an alternative resource to produce fuel ethanol. As for the conversion of cellulose into fuel ethanol, the saccharification of cellulose is a key process. The environment benign process using ionic liquid-water mixtures is studied to mild hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose without acid as catalyst. Ionic liquid of 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([Amim]Cl) is chosen to mix with water because it has great solubility of cellulose. The mass ratio of water with ionic liquid, reaction temperature and reaction time are studied and the optimal conditions of glucose yield are obtained as follows: the mass ratio of water 0.375, the reaction temperature 433 K and the reaction time 4h, and the yield of glucose is 77.08%.