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. 2019 Jan 7;4(1):352-357.
doi: 10.1021/acsomega.8b03088. eCollection 2019 Jan 31.

Bioethanol Production from Unpretreated Cellulose under Neutral Selfsustainable Hydrolysis/Hydrogenolysis Conditions Promoted by the Heterogeneous Pd/Fe3O4 Catalyst

Bianca Gumina  1 , Claudia Espro  1 , Signorino Galvagno  1 , Rosario Pietropaolo  2 , Francesco Mauriello  2
Affiliations

Bioethanol Production from Unpretreated Cellulose under Neutral Selfsustainable Hydrolysis/Hydrogenolysis Conditions Promoted by the Heterogeneous Pd/Fe3O4 Catalyst

Bianca Gumina et al. ACS Omega. .

Abstract

The direct conversion of untreated microcrystalline cellulose into C2-C3 alcohols, through a one-pot process promoted by the heterogeneous bimetallic Pd/Fe3O4 catalyst, is presented. The process is selfsustainable without the addition of external molecular hydrogen or acid/basic promoters and is mainly selective toward ethanol. At 240 °C, a complete cellulose conversion was reached after 12 h with an ethanol molar selectivity of 51% among liquid products. The synergistic effect played by water (which aids in the chemical pretreatment means of cellulose through the hydrolysis process) and the Pd/Fe3O4 catalyst (which catalyzes the hydrogenolysis reaction driving the pattern of obtained products) is elucidated.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) chromatograms of MCC conversion in the presence of the Pd/Fe3O4 catalyst (green profile) or in the absence of a catalyst (gray profile) at 240 °C (reaction conditions: catalyst (when used) 0.25 g; 60 mL solution of MCC (4 wt %); solvent, water; initial N2 pressure, 5 bar; stirring, 500 rpm).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Time effect on the product distribution obtained in MCC conversion (%) and ethanol molar selectivity in liquid-phase products (%), when the reaction is carried out in the presence of N2 at 240 °C (3–48 h).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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