Performances of a multi-product strategy for bioethanol, lignin, and ultra-high surface area carbon from lignocellulose by PHP (phosphoric acid plus hydrogen peroxide) pretreatment platform

A newly developed PHP (phosphoric acid plus hydrogen peroxide) pretreatment for lignocellulose is integrated to be a multi-product platform for bioethanol, lignin, and ultra-high surface area carbon; the performances of this multi-product strategy are investigated in this work. Based on PHP pretreatment platform, 100.0 g wheat straw yield 16.0 g ethanol from the cellulose fraction, and 7.2 g high purity lignin can be recovered from the derived liquid fraction in pretreatment. Activated carbon (PHPK-800) with ultra-high surface area of 3291 m(2) g(-1) can be produced from the water-soluble fractions derived from pretreatment. As electrode material for supercapacitor, PHPK-800 displays an excellent specific capacitance of 303.5 F g(-1) at 0.5 A g(-1), and retains 87.0% of initial specific capacitance with more than 95.0% coulomb efficiency after 5000 cycles. The fabricated symmetric supercapacitor harvests an excellent energy density of 13.2 Wh kg(-1) with 199.9 W kg(-1) power density. Besides, a superior CO2 adsorption capability of 4.61 mmol g(-1) is achieved by activated carbon of PHPK-700. According to these performances, PHP pretreatment platform is promising for converting lignocellulose into bioethanol, lignin and carbons by the biomass full utilization to achieve a more sustainable lignocellulosic refinery.

Automated summary

A newly developed PHP pretreatment technology has been successfully demonstrated to convert lignocellulose into bioethanol, lignin, and high surface area carbon. The performance and quality of the produced materials are excellent, showing great potential for a sustainable lignocellulosic refinery.