Preparation of Core-Shell Structure Magnetic Carbon-Based Solid Acid and its Catalytic Performance on Hemicellulose in Corncobs

• Main Authors: Xucheng Zhang, Xuesong Tan, Yan Xu, Wen Wang, Longlong Ma, Wei Qi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: North Carolina State University 2016-10-01
• Series: BioResources
• Subjects: Carbon solid acid catalyst; Biomass; Hydrolysis; Magnetic; Catalytic activity; Lignocellulose
• Online Access: http://ojs.cnr.ncsu.edu/index.php/BioRes/article/view/BioRes_11_4_10014_Zhang_Core_Shell_Magnetic_Carbon_Based_Acid

Solid acid catalysts show good catalytic depolymerization behavior for lignocellulose. A stable core-shell structured magnetic solid acid catalyst (MSAC), Fe3O4/C-SO3H, was prepared from glucose, concentrated sulfuric acid, and modified magnetic particles of Fe3O4, which was used as the core. The effects of the carbonization and sulfonation processes on the activity of the catalyst were investigated. The results showed that preparation conditions had great influence on the quantity of the acidic groups (sulfonic, carboxyl, and hydroxyl groups) and the stability of magnetic catalysts. The best preparation conditions for MSAC were 3 h of carbonization time, 450 °C as the carbonization temperature, 9 h of sulfonation time, and 90 °C as the sulfonation temperature. Its surface topography, functional group, chemical composition, and magnetic properties were characterized by analysis instrument. Furthermore, the catalyst was stably dispersed in the reaction system, quickly separated from the reaction system using an external field, and reused many times; 44.3% of xylose yield was obtained at 160 °C for 16 h. The catalyst was used repeatedly more than 3 times, and the recovery over 89%. The depolymerization of corncobs was achieved by magnetic catalyst, representing the depolymerization characteristics of real lignocellulose. This data can be used as a reference for the subsequent use of biomass resource.