Green and efficient utilization of beech sawdust waste for sorbitol production: Direct conversion residue via Ru2P/OMC derived from separated lignin

This paper proposes a green and sustainable strategy to achieve efficient utilization of beech sawdust waste to produce sorbitol. First, ethanol dissolution method was used to extract lignin from sawdust. Subsequently, the lignin combined with phloroglucinol were used to fabricate ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) using solvent evaporation induced self-assembly (EISA) method. Afterwards, Ru2P/OMC was synthesized and utilized as a catalyst for the production of sorbitol from the residue using pure water as green solvent. Finally, the yield of sorbitol and xylitol reached 77.2 % and 12.5 % at 200 degrees C in 5 h, respectively. Different characterization techniques were used to reveal the structural composition of the catalysts and the mechanism of the reaction. The results show that the bifunctional Ru2P/OMC catalyst has dual activity of hydrolysis and hydrogenation without sulfonation treatments. Interestingly, the bifunctional Ru2P/OMC catalyst has satisfactory activity, selectivity, and stability, which is promising in biomass waste conversion.

Automated summary

This paper proposes a green and sustainable strategy to produce sorbitol using beech sawdust waste. The study shows that lignin was extracted from sawdust using ethanol dissolution method and ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) was fabricated using solvent evaporation induced self-assembly (EISA) method. Ru2P/OMC catalyst was synthesized and used to convert the residue into sorbitol with pure water as solvent. The results demonstrate the efficient utilization of biomass waste and the promising potential of the bifunctional Ru2P/OMC catalyst.