Online investigation on catalytic co-pyrolysis of cellulose and polyethylene over magnesium oxide by advanced mass spectrometry

Due to rapid deactivation of catalysts, the effective conversion of biomass with oxygen-rich and hydrogendeficient characteristics to transportation fuels and high-valued chemicals via catalytic pyrolysis remains a challenge for commercialization. Hydrogen-rich plastic is used as feedstock co-fed with biomass to improve the catalytic pyrolysis process. The present work aims to investigate the co-pyrolysis process of cellulose and polyethylene (PE) over MgO by TG combined with photoionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PI-TOFMS), which features on-line detection of catalytic pyrolysis products in real time. The MgO catalyst could improve the pyrolysis of cellulose and enhance the C-C bond breaking of PE, respectively. During catalytic copyrolysis, the yields from olefins and furan as well as its derivatives can be enhanced obviously. Further, the formation of additional aromatics can be observed due to the Diels-Alder reaction. This work shows TG coupled to PI-TOF-MS is a powerful setup to study and optimize catalytic co-pyrolysis process.

Automated summary

This study investigates the co-pyrolysis process of cellulose and polyethylene over MgO catalyst using TG coupled with PI-TOFMS, showing that the MgO catalyst can improve the pyrolysis of cellulose and enhance the C-C bond breaking of polyethylene.