Plasma-assisted hydrodeoxygenation of bio-oils

Abstract

Amid the backdrop of ever-escalating energy demand, dwindling energy resources, and fossil fuels-led climate conundrums, the staggering amount of clean and renewable energy supply to feed the energy-hungry civilization is the need of the day. On this frontier, biofuels turn out to be the greener energy substitutes and the use of plasma in sustainable bioeconomy has garnered huge attention recently. Although there are several review articles on plasma-driven biomass valorization and plasma-free hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of bio-oils, none of the previous reviews on plasma-assisted HDO has been reported yet. This, in turn, highlights the novelty of this approach presenting efficient and sustainable avenues to produce high-quality biofuel. To bridge this significant literature gap regarding the integration of two processes, this review sheds light on growing trends in plasma technology, succinctly highlights the synergistic benefits of plasma-assisted HDO, and summarizes its recent progress for the upgradation of bio-oils into bio-based chemicals and value-added bioproducts together with in-depth critical analysis and comparison between both non-catalytic and catalytic plasma-assisted HDO of bio-oils. Despite being a cutting-edge solution in the upscaling of bio-oils, a limited amount of work has so far been conducted employing this integrated approach that nevertheless provides new insights for further advancements.