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Abstract
Lignocellulosic biomass represents one of the most important feedstocks for future biorefineries, being a precursor of valuable bio-products, obtainable through both chemical and biological conversion routes. Lignocellulosic biomass has a complex matrix, which requires the careful development of multi-step approaches for its complete exploitation to value-added compounds. Based on this perspective, the present work focuses on the valorization of hemicellulose and cellulose fractionsof giant reed (Arundo donax L.) to give second-generation sugars, minimizing the formation of reaction by-products. The conversion of hemicellulose to xylose was undertaken in the presence of the heterogeneous acid catalyst Amberlyst-70 under microwave irradiation. The effect of the main reaction parameters, such as temperature, reaction time, catalyst, and biomass loadings on sugars yield was studied, developing a high gravity approach. Under the optimised reaction conditions (17 wt% Arundo donax L. loading, 160 °C, Amberlyst-70/Arundo donax L. weight ratio 0.2 wt/wt), the xylose yield was 96.3 mol%. In the second step, the cellulose-rich solid residue was exploited through the chemical or enzymatic route, obtaining glucose yields of 32.5 and 56.2 mol%, respectively. This work proves the efficiency of this innovative combination of chemical and biological catalytic approaches, for the selective conversion of hemicellulose and cellulose fractions of Arundo donax L. to versatile platform products.
Highlights
The anticipated depletion of fossil resources in the nearest future together with their associated unfavorable environmental outcomes are driving research towards the exploration of promising alternative renewable resources
The proposed cascade biomass exploitation represents a novel promising strategy to maximize the conversion of Arundo donax L. structural carbohydrates into simple sugars, such as xylose and glucose, which are key intermediates in several biorefinery processes
Amberlyst-70 was adopted for the preliminary hydrolysis of hemicellulose fraction in combination with MW irradiation and the high gravity approach
Summary
The anticipated depletion of fossil resources in the nearest future together with their associated unfavorable environmental outcomes are driving research towards the exploration of promising alternative renewable resources. Common stainless steels cannot be adopted for the acid hydrothermal treatments, which instead require special alloys, such as various grades of Hastelloy, zirconium or other corrosion-resistant alloys, which ensure excellent corrosion resistance to acids, even at high severity conditions [37] These issues drove the research towards the employment of low-cost acid solid catalysts, such as styrene-based sulfonic acid resins (Amberlysts) [38,39,40,41,42,43,44]. Different raw feedstocks and heterogeneous catalysts were reported in the literature for the hydrolysis of hemicellulose and cellulose, as summarized in Tables 1 and 2, respectively
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