High yield production of levoglucosan via catalytic pyrolysis of cellulose at low temperature

Pyrolytic sugars are fascinating feedstocks for bio-refinery, and it is of high interest to develop renewable catalysts for biomass pyrolysis. In this study, catalytic pyrolysis of cellulose to levoglucosan (LG) in improved yields was achieved with acid-base bifunctional magnetic Zn-Fe-C catalysts. Among tested catalysts, Zn-4@Fe-C-500 could not only increase LG yield by 5.4 times compared with non-catalytic cellulose pyrolysis at 300 C, but also help lower reaction temperature by 200 C due to acid-base site synergistic effect. Furthermore, the LG yield (80.1 wt %) from catalytic cellulose pyrolysis at 300 C was much higher than that commonly conducted at 500 C without catalyst (60.1 wt%). Thermogravimetric and kinetic analysis disclosed LG formation mechanism. Importantly, Zn4@Fe-C500 catalyst was highly recyclable with little deactivation after 5 consecutive cycles. This study exhibited great potential for industrial LG production from cellulose at low temperatures.

Automated summary

This study achieved high yields of levoglucosan (LG) from cellulose pyrolysis using acid-base bifunctional magnetic Zn-Fe-C catalysts. The tested catalyst Zn-4@Fe-C-500 increased LG yield by 5.4 times and lowered the reaction temperature by 200 C through acid-base site synergistic effect. Moreover, the LG yield from catalytic cellulose pyrolysis at 300 C was much higher than that without catalyst at 500 C. The Zn4@Fe-C500 catalyst exhibited high recyclability. This study demonstrated great potential for industrial production of LG from cellulose at low temperatures.