Cascade use of bamboo as raw material for several high value products: production of xylo-oligosaccharide and activated carbon for EDLC electrode from bamboo

The cascade use of bamboo as the raw material for high-value products, that is, the production of xylo-oligosaccharide and the preparation of activated carbon for EDLC electrode, was proposed as an economically effective use of bamboo in this study. Xylo-oligosaccharides, such as xylobiose and xylotriose, were successfully produced from bamboo in a water solution by a hot compressed water process. The solid residue of bamboo after the treatment of the hot compressed water was carbonized at 400-800 degrees C, then activated with KOH. The KOH activation was effective for the preparation of activated carbon having a high BET specific surface area of ca. 2600 m(2) g(-1) from the solid residue. The amount of ash drastically decreased by the hot compressed water treatment, which should be an advantage as the precursor for EDLC electrodes. The capacitance values measured in a 1 M H2SO4 aqueous solution of the activated carbon derived from the solid residue compared well with those from the bamboo.