One-pot synthesis of a chemically functional magnetic carbonaceous acid catalyst for fermentable sugars production from sugarcane bagasse

Abstract

Magnetic carbonaceous acid catalyst was synthesized from nano-Fe3O4 powder, glucose and hydroxyethyl-sulfonic acid by a novel method of one-pot hydrothermal precipitation-sulfonation. It was found that the prepared C-SO3H@Fe3O4/C catalyst had high acidity (1.23 mmol g−1) and strong magnetism (12.85 Am2/kg). High yields of glucose (62.59%) and total reducing sugar (73.01%) were achieved from NaOH-freeze pretreated sugarcane bagasse by the C-SO3H@Fe3O4/C catalyst at 180 °C in a microwave reactor. In addition, the C-SO3H@Fe3O4/C catalyst could be easily separated and recovered by an external magnetic force at a high recovery rate (93.18%). High yields of glucose (54.47%) and total reducing sugar (60.65%) were also obtained after experiencing five-time cycles. It was demonstrated as an effective hydrolysis of pretreated sugarcane bagasse to fermentable sugars with high yields by the assistance of the C-SO3H@Fe3O4/C catalyst, and the catalyst exhibited an excellent catalytic stability during the conversion process.