Cellulose hydrolysis catalysed by mesoporous activated carbons functionalized under mild conditions

The catalytic hydrolysis of cellulose allows the transformation of this sustainable and renewable raw material to obtain biofuels and high-added value chemicals. The process requires acidic catalysts, which should be preferably solid in order to make it greener and, thus, this work proposes the use of functionalized carbon materials for such an application. A mesoporous commercial carbon of trade name SA-30, abbreviated as SA in this work, has been chemically treated at room temperature to create acidic surface oxygen functional groups. The prepared carbon catalysts have been thoroughly characterized by N2 adsorption-desorption at − 196 ºC, temperature programmed desorption and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. SAS carbon (prepared by treatment with a saturated solution of (NH4)2S2O8 in 1 M H2SO4 and named by adding S to the name of the original carbon) is the most effective of the studied catalysts. It allows achieving high cellulose conversion (about 61%) and glucose selectivity. Thus, the low-cost functionalized carbons prepared at mild conditions are effective and promising catalysts for the transformation of cellulose into glucose. The authors thank Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (RTI2018-095291-B-I00), GV/FEDER (PROMETEOII/2014/010) and University of Alicante (VIGROB-136) for financial support. F.-Z. Azar thanks the AECID (research scholarship for development (2015/2016)) and University of Alicante (cooperation programs for development) for financial support.