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In this study, the combination of Fe(3+)/HCl and ultrasonic treatment was applied to selectively hydrolyze cellulose for the preparation of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC). It was found that the crystallinity and specific surface area of hydrocellulose samples were higher (78.92% and 2.23581 m(2)g(-1), respectively), compared with the method that only used Fe(3+)/HCl catalyst without ultrasonic treatment. Meanwhile, the hydrolysate can be extracted and reused for cellulose hydrolysis for three runs, which was effective in saving the dosage of chemicals and reducing the pollution of the environment without affecting the properties of hydrocellulose. Moreover, the increased concentration of total reducing sugar (TRS) after three runs may be used as a valuable source in biofuels production. The technology of cellulose hydrolysis, by retaining the crystalline region for MCC products while promoting hydrolysis of amorphous region for further utilization is of great novelty, which may prove valuable in converting biomass into chemicals and biofuels, environmentally and economically., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The effect of ultrasonic pretreatment coupled with HCl-FeCl3 catalyst was evaluated to hydrolyze cellulose amorphous regions. The ultrasonic pretreatment leads to cavitation that affects the morphology and microstructure of fibers, enhancing the accessibility of chemical reagent to the loosened amorphous regions of cellulose. In this work, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to identify characteristic absorption bands of the constituents and the crystallinity was evaluated by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. The results indicated that appropriate ultrasonic pretreatment assisted with FeCl3 can enhance the acid hydrolysis of amorphous regions of cellulose, thus improving the crystallinity of the remaining hydrocellulose. It was observed that sonication samples that were pretreated for 300 W and 20 min followed by acid hydrolysis had maximum of 78.9% crystallinity. The crystallinity was 9.2% higher than samples that were not subjected to ultrasound. In addition, the average fines length decreased from 49 μm to 37 μm., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Due to their chemical and physical properties, rare earth elements (REEs) are essential in modern applications such as energy conversion or IT technology. The increasing demand for these elements leads to strong incentives for REE recovery and induces the exploration of new, alternative sources for REEs. Accessing REEs from clay minerals, in our case kaolinite, by an elution process is a promising method. The present study investigates the potential application of REE recovery through elution with different mineral acids (HNO3, H2SO4, and HCl) in a microwave process. The material used in this study—residues from an industrial kaolin production process—contained 2.47 g/kg REEs which is a significant amount for REE recovery. The ability of various mineral acids to solubilize metals was studied to assess the REE content of this residual resource. Around 1.87 g/kg of REEs was eluted from industrial kaolinite residues in hydrochloric acid, 1.71 g/kg in sulfuric acid, and 1.13 g/kg in nitric acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]