Synthesis and modification of graphene oxide-like carbon for conversion of hemicellulose to furfural from bagasse

Abstract

The utilization of biomass to convert into valuable chemicals has been receiving research interest recently. In this study, the catalyst with a similar structure to graphene oxide was synthesized from bagasse (B-GO) by calcination using cellulose as the main carbon source. The influences of calcination temperature, calcination time, and cellulose:ferrocene ratios on the FTIR and furfural yield of B-GO were investigated, respectively. The sulfonated graphene oxide-like catalyst (B-SGO) was prepared from B-GO by sulfonation method with sulfuric acid for the application of converting hemicellulose in bagasse into furfural. The characteristics of B-GO and B-SGO materials were analyzed via modern analytical methods. The characteristic analysis of B-SGO results indicated that −SO3H was successfully attached to the B-GO with a sulfur mass ratio of 0.79%, increasing the acidity of the material and enhancing the catalytic efficiency. The effects of reaction temperature, reaction time, catalyst content, NaCl content, and hemicellulose dosage on the furfural yield of B-SGO were also investigated, respectively. The result showed the highest furfural yield achieved at 75.55% when conducting the reaction at 190°C in 120 min with the catalyst content at 1%, 0.1 mol/L NaCl, and a hemicellulose dosage of 1.5 g. Thereby, showing the potential application of synthesized materials from biomass in the process of converting hemicellulose into furfural along with utilizing the brackish water and wastewater containing low salt content as the solvent for the conversion process.