Microwave-enhanced pyrolysis of bamboo for furfural-rich bio-oil production over WS2 catalyst

Abstract

The efficient utilization of bamboo waste has attracted increasing interest as a promising solution to address the challenges associated with climate change and promote a more environmentally friendly approach to resource utilization. Herein, we demonstrated the highly selective production of furfural from bamboo through a microwave-assisted pyrolysis (MAP) process using WS2 catalysts. Firstly, the content of furfural can be precisely regulated by manipulating key process conditions such as microwave power, temperature and the mass ratio of WS2 to bamboo. Notably, compared to non-catalyzed MAP, the presence of the WS2 catalyst significantly enhanced the production of both furfural and furan components. The optimal content of furfural and furan components reached up to 66.9 area% and 75.6 area% in bio-oil under the conditions of 700 W, 400 °C and a 3:10 WS2 to bamboo ratio for 15 min. Furthermore, the liquid oil mainly consisted of C5 and C6 products (86.5 area%), indicating that MAP enhances the selectivity of small molecular products and furan compounds when coupled with the WS2 catalyst. Experimental results revealed that WS2 played bifunctional roles as a microwave absorbent and catalyst, promoting the bio-oil content and limiting the secondary pyrolysis of furan components, leading to a high selectivity of furan and a high content of furan products. This work provides valuable insights into producing furan-rich bio-oil from bamboo through MAP over transition metal dichalcogenides materials.