Abstract
The present study deals with the production of 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF) from fructose by chemo-conversion method using chemical catalyst, conventionally achieved by microwave-assisted dehydration process. Five different chemical catalysts, namely oxalic acid, phosphotungstic acid and mesoporous titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TNPs) were compared at constant conditions of which TNPs yielded a maxima of 33.95%. The optimum temperature and catalyst loading were found to be 200°C and 20%, respectively, at a 5% optimum substrate concentration during 15 min optimum reaction time to yield 61.53% HMF. The efficiency of synthesised TNPs was investigated further through reusability studies. TNPs were properly recycled and the catalytic activity recovery was good even after a 14 batch reactions. The specific surface area of the TNP obtained is about 105.46 m2/g and its pore-volume is about 0.42 cm3/g according to single point adsorption. A large accessible surface area combined with a minimal pore size (15.92 nm) obtained with mesoporous TNPs is desirable for better catalyst loading, high-yield HMF, retention and reduced diffusion constraints.
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