Clean production of lactic acid by selective carbon-carbon bond cleavage of biomass feedstock over a novel carbon-bismuth oxychloride photocatalyst

The use of functional materials such as carbon-bismuth oxyhalides in integrated photorefineries for the clean production of fine chemicals requires restructuring.A facile biomass-assisted solvothermal fabrication of carbon/bismuth oxychloride nanocomposites(C/BiOCl)was achieved at various temperatures.Compared with BiOCl and C/BiOCl-120,C/BiOCl-180 exhibited higher crystallinity,wider visible light absorption,and a faster migration/separation rate of photoinduced carriers.For the selective C–C bond cleavage of biomass-based feedstocks photocatalyzed by C/BiOCl-180,the xylose conversion and lactic acid yield were 100%and 92.5%,respectively.C/BiOCl-180 efficiently converted different biomass-based monosaccharides to lactic acid,and the efficiency of pentoses was higher than that of hexoses.Moreover,lactic acid synthesis was favored by all active radicals including superoxide ion(·O_(2)^(−)),holes(h^(+)),hydroxyl radical(·OH),and singlet oxygen(^(1)O_(2)),with·O_(2)^(−)playing a key role.The fabricated photocatalyst was stable,economical,and recyclable.The use of biomass-derived monosaccharides for the clean production of lactic acid via the C/BiOCl-180 photocatalyst has opened new research horizons for the investigation and application of C–C bond cleavage in biomass-based feedstocks.