Biochar-based Solid Acids as Catalysts for Carbohydrate Hydrolysis: A Critical Review

Recently, increasing interest has been focused on the hydrolysis of carbohydrates to monosaccharides, among which, glucose and xylose as typical platform sugars can be used to produce chemicals and biofuels. As heterogeneous catalysts, solid acids have gained extensive attention for biomass biorefinery and could replace the conventional process owing to their excellent properties, including acceptable acidity and easy separation. In particular, biochar-based solid acids derived from biomass are promising for biomass conversion owing to the low-cost of feedstocks and the simple preparation procedure. Herein, we attempt to provide a critical overview of biochar-based solid acids for hydrolysis of carbohydrates into glucose and xylose. The preparation methods and properties of biochar-based catalysts as well as the influence of their properties on catalytic performance were discussed in detail. We also highlight the major challenges facing the use of biochar-based solid acids for carbohydrate hydrolysis.

Preparation and Catalytic Application of Novel Water Tolerant Solid Acid Catalysts of Zirconium Sulfate/HZSM-5

Esterification of acrylic acid（AA） to produce AA esters has widespread application in the chemical industry. A series of water tolerant solid acid catalysts was prepared, and characterized by XRD, nitrogen adsorption, TGA-DTA, XPS, and ammonia adsorption FTIR. The effects of Si/Al ratio, zirconium sulfate（ZS） loading on HZSM-5 and calcination temperature on the esterification were investigated. When 20% （mass fraction） ZS is loaded on HZSM-5, the conversion of AA reaches 100%. XRD analysis indicates that ZS is highly dispersed on HZSM-5 because no crystalline structure assigned to ZS is found. Catalytic activity and hydrophobicity of ZS supported on HZSM-5 are higher compared with those of parent ZS or HZSM-5. Results show that this kind of novel catalysts is an efficient water tolerant solid acid catalyst for esterification reactions.

Alkylation of Catechol with tert-Butyl Alcohol Catalyzed by Mesoporous Acidic Montmorillonite Heterostructure Catalysts

The liquid phase alkylation of catechol with tert-butyl alcohol to produce4-tert-butyl catechol (4-TBC) was carried out over MCM-41, HZSM-5, H-exchanged montmorillonite andnovel acidic porous montmorillonite heterostructures (PMHs). Upon all catalysts tested, 4-TBC is themain product and 3-tert-butyl catechol (3-TBC) and 3,5-di-tert-butyl catechol are the sideproducts. The synthetic PMHs showed higher conversion of catechol and better selectivity to 4-TBCcompared to other solid acid catalysts tested. Over the PMHs derived from H-exchangedmontmorillonite through template extraction processes, the suitable reaction temperature is ca 410K, the ratio of catechol to tert-butyl alcohol is 1:2. Increasing the amount of catalyst (lowerweight hourly space velocity) can improve the conversion of catechol and influence the selectivityslightly. The reasonable reaction time is ca 8 h. The type and strength of acidity ofH-montmorillonite and PMH were determined by pyridine adsorption FT-IR and ammoniatemperature-programmed desorption techniques. The medium and strong acid sites are conducive toproducing 4-TBC and the weak acid sites to facilitating the 3-TBC formation. The differences betweenthe PMHs from calcination and those from extraction are attributed to proton migration and aciditychange in the gallery surface.

Enhanced hydrolytic removal of tylosin in wastewater using polymer-based solid acid catalysts converted from polystyrene

Antibiotic production wastewater usually contains high concentrations of antibiotic residues,which can cause instability and deterioration of biological wastewater treatment units and also domestication and proliferation of antibiotic-resistance bacteria.An effective pretreatment on antibiotics production wastewater is expected to selectively reduce the concentration of antibiotics and decrease the toxicity,rather than mitigate organic and other contaminants before further treatments.In this work,two polymer-based solid acids,PS-S and CPS-S bearing high concentrations of-SOH_(3)groups (up to 4.57 mmol/g),were prepared and successfully used for hydrolytic mitigation of 100 mg/L tylosin within 20 min.The co-existence of high concentrations of COD and humic substances did not affect the mitigation of tylosin obviously,while more than 500 mg/L of nitrogenous compounds suppressed the hydrolytic efficiency.Recycle and reuse experiments showed that the solid acids performed well in five cycles after regeneration.Three transformation products (P1,P2 and P3)were identified using UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS.Sugar moieties including mycarse,mycaminose,and mycinose detached and released simultaneously or in order from the 16-member lactone ring through desugarization,which led to a dramatic decrease in antibacterial activity as revealed by cytotoxicity evaluations using S.aureus.Ecotoxicity estimation indicated the acute toxicities of the hydrolyzed products to model species (e.g.,fish,daphnid and green algae) were classified as“not harmful”.This work suggested an effective and selective method to pretreat tylosin-contained production wastewater by using polymer-based solid acids.These results will shed light on effective elimination of antibiotics pollution from pharmaceutical industries through strengthening the pretreatments.

Esterification of cyclohexene with formic acid over a peanut shell-derived carbon solid acid catalyst

A carbon solid acid catalyst was prepared by the sulfonation of partially carbonized peanut shell with concentrated H2SO4. The structure and acidity of the catalyst were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and elemental analysis, which showed that it was an amorphous carbon material composed of aromatic carbon sheets in random orientations. Sulfonic acid groups were present on the surface at a density of 0.81 mmol/g. The carbon solid acid catalyst showed better performance than HZSM‐5 for the esterification of cyclohexene with formic acid. At a3：1 molar ratio of formic acid to cyclohexene, catalyst loading of 0.07 g/mL of cyclohexene, and reaction time of 1 h at 413 K, the cyclohexene conversion was 88.4% with 97.3% selectivity to cyclohexyl formate. The carbon solid acid catalyst showed better reusability than HZSM‐5 because its large pores were minimally affected by the accumulation of oligomerized cyclohexene, which deactivated HZSM‐5. The activity of the carbon solid acid catalyst decreased somewhat in the first two recycles due to the leaching of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon containing –SO3H groups and then it remained constant in the following reuse.

Catalytic Performance of Aquathermolysis and Viscosity Reduction of Heavy Oil over a WO_(3)/ZrO_(2) Solid Acid

Tungstated zirconia(WO_(3)/ZrO_(2))solid acid catalysts with different WO_(3) contents were prepared by a hydrothermal method and then used in the catalytic aquathermolysis of heavy oil from Xinjiang.The WO_(3)/ZrO_(2) solid acid catalyst was characterized by a range of characterization methods,including X-ray diffraction,NH3-temperature programmed desorption,and pyridine infrared spectroscopy.The WO_(3) content of the WO_(3)/ZrO_(2) catalysts had an important impact on the structure and property of the catalysts.When the WO_(3) mass fraction was 20%,it facilitated the formation of tetragonal zirconia,thereby enhancing the creation of robust acidic sites.Acidity is considered to have a strong impact on the catalytic performance of the aquathermolysis of heavy oil.When the catalyst containing 20%WO_(3) was used to catalyze the aquathermolysis of heavy oil under conditions of 14.5 MPa,340℃,and 24 h,the viscosity of heavy oil decreased from 47266 to 5398 mPa·s and the viscosity reduction rate reached 88.6%.The physicochemical properties of heavy oil before and after the aquathermolysis were analyzed using a saturates,aromatics,resins,and asphaltenes analysis,gas chromatography,elemental analysis,densimeter etc.After the aquathermolysis,the saturate and aromatic contents significantly increased from 43.3%to 48.35%and 19.47%to 21.88%,respectively,with large reductions in the content of resin and asphaltene from 28.22%to 25.06%and 5.36%to 2.03%,respectively.The sulfur and nitrogen contents,and the density of the oil were significantly decreased.These factors were likely the main reasons for promoting the viscosity reduction of heavy oil during the aquathermolysis over the WO_(3)/ZrO_(2) solid acid catalysts.

Preparation of solid acid catalyst SO4^2-/TiO2/γ-Al2O3 for esterification: A study on catalytic reaction mechanism and kinetics

In this work, a series of SO4^2-/TiO2/γ-Al2O3 solid acid catalysts were synthesized by impregnation method, in which nano-TiO2 was prepared by sol–gel method, and then the nano-TiO2 sol was loaded on porous γ-Al2O3 supporter through impregnation. The structure and property of catalyst were characterized by XRD, N2-BET,SEM, TEM, XPS, NH3-TPD, Pyridine-IR and FT-IR. In addition, the catalyst of chelate bidentate coordination acid center model was established. The catalytic performance test was carried out in the esterification of n-butyl alcohol with lauric acid and the catalyst showed excellent activity. The experimental results showed that the medium strength acid sites were more dominant active sites than the strong and weak acid sites for the rapid esterification reaction. Its kinetic behaviors and activation energy were studied for the esterification under the catalytic reaction condition.

Solid Acid Used as Highly Efficient Catalyst for Esterification of Free Fatty Acids with Alcohols

Anovel solid acid catalyst, which was prepared from sodium alginate (SA) and metal chlorides and characterized with XRD and FT-IR spectrometry, was used for the preparation of biodiesel via esterification reaction. The study results showed that the aluminum-alginate complex prepared in a cheap and easy way exhibited high catalytic activity, and a 92.6% conversion of methyl oleate was obtained in the presence of 4m% of catalyst dosage upon refluxing for 3h of methanol and acid mixed in a molar ratio of 10:1. It should be noted that the catalyst can be applied to the esterification reaction of fatty acids with various carbon chain length on methanol or different short chain alcohols, indicating that the catalyst is suitable for the preparation of biodiesel from waste oils with a high acid value.

Imidazolium ionic liquid-supported sulfonic acids:Efficient and recyclable catalysts for esterification of benzoic acid

Several imidazolium ionic liquid（IL）-supported sulfonic acids with different anions,[C_3SO_3Hmim]HSO_4,[C_3SO_3Hmim]BF_4, [C_3SO_3 Hmim]PF_6,and[C_3SO_3Hmim]CF_3SO_3,were synthesized and applied as catalysts for esterification reaction of benzoic acid. The experimental results indicate that imidazolium IL-supported sulfonic acid containing anion of HSO_4^- shows the best catalytic activity.Only when less[C_3SO_3Hmim]HSO_4（0.3 equiv.） applied,was the product obtained with high yield of 97%.Furthermore, the produced esters could be separated by decantation,and the catalyst could be reused after the removal of water.

Construction of a Bronsted-Lewis solid acid catalyst La-PW-SiO_(2)/SWCNTs based on electron withdrawing effect of La(Ⅲ)onπbond of SWCNTs for biodiesel synthesis from esterification of oleic acid and methanol

A novel solid Bronsted-Lewis acid catalyst La-PW-SiO_(2)/SWCNTs(single-wall carbon nanotubes)was synthesized from the synergistic modification of H_(3)PW_(12)O_(40)(HPW)by single-walled carbon nanotubes functionalized with sidewall hydroxyl groups(SWCNTs–OH)and La^(3+) via sol–gel method.The freshly prepared catalyst was characterized by several methods,and the catalytic activity and stability of it were studied from the esterification of oleic acid and methanol.Results showed that the highest conversion of oleic acid was 93.1%(mass)and maintained as high as 88.7%(mass)after six cycles of La-PW-SiO_(2)/SWCNTs.The high catalytic activity and stability of La-PW-SiO_(2)/SWCNTs can be attributed to the strong electron withdrawing effect of La^(3+) on π bond of SWCNTs,because it can facilitate the formation of a large number of strong Lewis acid sites.Therefore,the reduction of catalytic activity of a solid acid catalyst due to the fact that hydration reaction of its Bronsted acid sites can be effectively reduced.La-PW-SiO_(2)/SWCNTs can be an efficient and economical catalyst,because it shows good catalytic activity and stability.

Catalytic Hydrogenation of Acetic Acid to Acetaldehyde: Synergistic Effect of Bifunctional Co/Ce-Fe Oxide Solid Solution Catalysts

The large-scale industrial production of acetic acid (HAc) from carbonylation of methanol has enabled intense research interest from direct hydrogenation of HAc to acetaldehyde (AA).Herein,a series of cerium-iron oxide solid solution supported metallic cobalt catalysts were prepared by modified sol-gel method and were applied in gas-phase hydrogenation of HAc to AA.A synergistic effect between the hydrogenation metal cobalt and Ce-Fe oxide solid solution is revealed.Specifically,oxygen vacancies provide the active sites for adsorption of HAc,while highly uniformly dispersed metallic Co adsorbs H2 and activates the reduction of HAc into AA.Moreover,the metallic Co can also assist the cyclical conversion between Fe3+/Fe2+ and Ce3+/Ce4+ on the surface of Ce1.xFexO2-δ supports.The unique effect substantially enhances the ability of the support material to rapidly capture oxygen atoms from HAc.It is found that the catalyst of 5% Co/Ce0.8Fe0.2O2-δ with the highest concentration of oxygen vacancy presents the best catalytic performance (i.e.acetaldehyde yield reaches 49.9%) under the optimal reaction conditions (i.e.623 K and H2 flow rate =10 mL/min).This work indicates that the Co/Ce-Fe oxide solid solution catalyst can be potentially used for the selective hydrogenation from HAc to AA.The synergy between the metallic Co and Ce1-xFexO2-δ revealed can be extended to the design of other composite catalysts.

Glucose-derived solid acids and their stability enhancement for upgrading biodiesel via esterification

Utilization of biomass-derived materials or chemicals plays a significant role in reducing the dependence of unsustainable resources of petroleum and coal. A series of sulfonated glucose-derived solid acids(SGSAs) were developed in this study through a one-step method. These catalysts were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, SEM,and BET to determine their physiochemical properties, and their acid content was measured by acid–base titration. The catalytic performances of SGSA catalysts were evaluated in two esterification reactions: propionic acid or oleic acid with methanol(a typical reaction to upgrade biodiesel). Conversion of oleic acid and selectivity of methyl oleate can reach as high as 93.3% and 94.7% respectively over SGSA-6, which has the highest -SO3 H density. Moreover, regeneration of spent catalysts by sulfuric acid solution can significantly enhance their stability and reusability.

Sulfonic acid-functionalized core-shell Fe_(3)O_(4)@carbon microspheres as magnetically recyclable solid acid catalysts

Green and recyclable solid acid catalysts are in urgent demand as a substitute for conventional liquid mineral acids.In this work,a series of novel sulfonic acid-functionalized core-shell Fe_(3)O_(4)@carbon microspheres(Fe_(3)O_(4)@C-SO_(3)H)have been designed and synthesized as an efficient and recyclable heterogeneous acid catalyst.For the synthesis,core-shell Fe_(3)O_(4)@RF(resorcinol-formaldehyde)microspheres with tunable shell thickness were achieved by interfacial polymerization on magnetic Fe_(3)O_(4)microspheres.After high-temperature carbonization,the microspheres were eventually treated by surface sulfonation,re sulting in Fe_(3)O_(4)@C-x-SO_(3)H(x stands for carbonization temperature)microspheres with abundant surface SO_(3)H groups.The obtained microspheres possess uniform core-shell structure,partially-graphitized carbon skeletons,superparamagnetic property,high magnetization saturation value of 10.6 emu/g,and rich SO_(3)H groups.The surface acid amounts can be adju sted in the range of 0.59-1.04 mmol/g via sulfonation treatment of carbon shells with different graphitization degrees.The magnetic Fe_(3)O_(4)@C-x-SO_(3)H microspheres were utilized as a solid acid catalyst for the acetalization reaction between benzaldehyde and ethylene glycol,demonstrating high selectivity(97%)to benzaldehyde ethylene glycol acetal.More importantly,by applying an external magnetic field,the catalysts can be easily separated from the heterogeneous reaction solutions,which later show well preserved catalytic activity even after 9 cycles,revealing good recyclability and high stability.

A highly active and stable organic-inorganic combined solid acid for the transesterification of glycerol under mild conditions

Solid acid catalyst plays a crucial role in the petroleum refinery industry and bio-refinery technology.In this work,p-phenolsulfonic acid(PSA)was successfully grafted onto the surface of KH560-modified zirconium phosphate(K-ZrP)in a facile routine.The structure and property of this organic-inorganic combined solid acid PSA/K-ZrP-x were characterized via XRD,FTIR,^(13)C solid-state NMR,TG,N_(2) adsorption-desorption,SEM,pyridine-adsorption FTIR and XPS technologies.The characterization results showed that KH560 can bond with ZrP and promote the grafting of PSA on the surface of K-ZrP via the condensation reaction between its epoxy ring and the phenolic hydroxyl group in PSA.Consequently,PSA/K-ZrP-2 exhibited excellent performance and stability in the transesterification between glycerol and methyl acetate among the tested H_(3)PW_(12)O_(40),Amber-lyst-45,HBEA,HZSM-5,ZrP,AlCl_(3) and FeCl_(3) catalysts.The calculated conversion of glycerol reached 81.3%with a 97.9%selectivity for monoacetin(MAG)and diacetin(DAG)with a 2.2%dosage of[H^(+)]at 100℃ for 4 h.The highest specific activity of PSA/K-ZrP-2 reached 24028.2 mg-glycerol/g-cat/h in a short reaction time(at 0.17 h),and it could be recycled five times without obvious deactivation.

MESOPOROUS ACID SOLID AS A CARRIER FOR METALLOCENE CATALYST IN ETHYLENE POLYMERIZATION AND A CATALYST IN CATALYTIC DEGRADATION OF POLYETHYLENE

The possibility of mesoporous acid solid as a carder for metallocene catalyst in ethylene polymerization and catalyst for polyethylene （PE） catalytic degradation was investigated. Here, HMCM-41 and AIMCM-41, and mesoporous silicoaluminophosphate molecular sieves （SAPO1 and SAPO2） were synthesized and used as acid solid. Much more gases were produced during catalytic degradation in PE/acid solid mixtures via in situ polymerization than those via physical mixing. The particle size distribution results exhibited that the particle size of SAPO1 in the PE/SAPOI mixture via in situ polymerization was about 1/14 times of that of the original SAPO1 or SAPO1-supported metallocene catalyst. This work shows a novel technology for chemical recycling of polyolefin.

A new solid acid SO_4^(2-)/TiO_2 catalyst modified with tin to synthesize 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate

A new solid acid catalyst,SO4^2-/TiO2 modified with tin,was prepared using a sol-gel method and its physicochemical properties were revealed by nitrogen adsorption-desorption,X-ray powder diffraction,scanning electron microscopy,Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,infrared spectroscopy of adsorbed pyridine,temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia and thermal gravimetric analysis.The structure,acidity and thermal stability of the SO4^2-/TiO2-SnO2 catalyst were studied.Incorporating tin enlarged the specific surface area and decreased crystallite size of the SO4^2-/TiO2 catalyst.The total acid sites of the modified catalyst increased and Bronsted acid strength remarkably increased with increasing tin content.The decomposition temperature of sulfate radical in the modified catalyst was 100 ℃ greater and its mass loss was more than twice that of the SO4^2-/TiO2 catalyst.The SO4^2-/TiO2-SnO2 catalyst was designed to synthesize 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate by esterification of 1,6-hexanediol with crylic acid.The yield of 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate exceeded 87% under the optimal reaction conditions：crylic acid to 1,6-hexanediol molar ratio = 3.5,catalyst loading = 7%,reaction temperature = 130 ℃ and reaction time = 3 h.The modified catalyst exhibited excellent reusability and after 10 cycles the conversion of 1,6-hexanediol was above 81%.

Reaction Kinetics of Biodiesel Synthesis from Waste Oil Using a Carbon-based Solid Acid Catalyst

The kinetics of simultaneous transesterification and esterification with a carbon-based solid acid catalyst was studied.Two solid acid catalysts were prepared by the sulfonation of carbonized vegetable oil asphalt and petroleum asphalt.These catalysts were characterized on the basis of elemental analysis,acidity site concentration,the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller（BET）surface area and pore size.The kinetic parameters with the two catalysts were determined,and the reaction system can be described as a pseudo homogeneous catalyzed reaction.All the forward and reverse reactions follow second order kinetics.The calculated concentration values from the kinetic equations are in good agreement with experimental values.

Catalytic Esterification of Methyl Alcohol with Acetic Acid

Esterification of methyl alcohol with acetic acid catalysed by Amberlyst-15 (cation-exchange resin) was carried out in a batch reactor in the temperature ranging between 318-338 K, at atmospheric pressure. The reaction rate increased with increase in catalyst concentration and reaction temperature, but decreased with an increase in water concentration. Stirrer speed had virtually no effect on the rate under the experimental conditions. The rate data were correlated with a second-order kinetic model based on homogeneous reaction. The apparent activation energy was found to be 22.9kJ mol-1 for the formation of methyl acetate. The methyl acetate production was carried out as batch and continuous in a packed bed reactive distillation column with high purity methyl acetate produced.

Conversion of Glucose to Valuable Platform Chemicals over Graphene Solid Acid Catalyst

Biomass-derived hexose sugars, the most abundant renewable resources in the world, have potential to be the sustainable resources for production of platform chemicals. Here, con- version of glucose is investigated by using sulfonated graphene （rGO-SOaH） as solid acid catalyst in water without any organic solvent. At first, graphene functionalized with sulfonic acid groups is prepared by using Nail and propane sultone, and then it is characterized by means of XPS, FT-IR, and TEM to confirm the existence of the sulfonic acid groups. The catalytic activity of rGO-SOaH in the conversion of glucose to valuable chemicals is studied under different reaction conditions. The maximum yield of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural （HMF） is 28.8%, and the total yield of formic acid, lactic acid and HMF is 51.94% when the reaction is conducted at the optimized reaction condition. In addition, the rGO-SOaH gives a rela- tively high total yield of the three kinds of products after five run experiments, indicating that the catalyst shows good thermal stability.

Polyoxometalates-based heterogeneous catalysts in acid catalysis

Acid catalysis,one of the most important industrial processes,suffers from the toxicity,corrosion and recyclability problems of conventional homogeneous acid catalysts.Thus,the development of green heterogeneous acid catalysts becomes the focus of fundamental research and industrial catalysis.As a class of discrete anionic metal-oxygen clusters with tunable structure at the molecular and atomic scales,polyoxometalates(POMs)benefit from their super strong Br?nsted acidity,high proton mobility,and thermal stability.POMs-based heterogeneous catalysts have been used as the potential green alternatives to conventional homogeneous acid catalysts.In this review,we summarize recent progress on the design strategies of the POMs-based heterogeneous catalysts and their catalytic properties in acid-catalyzed reactions,where they are combined with functionalized cations,modified through covalent interactions,supported onto the non-precious metal support,and introduced into the framework of porous polymers.The design,functional strategies and catalytic performance of these POMs-based heterogeneous catalysts in specific acid-catalyzed reactions are emphasized.