Synthesis of mesoporous Ag-mordenite catalysts for biomass hydrolysis

S.G. ASPROMONTE; A. ROMERO; M. VENGHI; M.J. COCERO; E. ALONSO; A.V. BOIX

Conferencia; 18th International Zeolite Conference 18 IZC; 2016

Nowadays, the use of biomass as feedstock for the production of fuel, energy and chemical compounds is attracting considerable attention as one of the future technologies that could contribute to reducing global warming and to building a society less dependent on fossil fuels. Cellulose is the most abundant component in lignocellulosic biomass and it therefore appears as one of the most promising feedstock in selective hydrolytic processes to produce fuels and chemicals1. Supercritical water (SCW) has shown an excellent capability for cellulose depolymerization. Even though more than 96% of cellulose is solubilized, the presence of oligomers is still high (>60% C)2. One possible mechanism to solve this problem is to complete the hydrolysis of the cellulose using heterogeneous acid catalysts. Thus, parameters such as porosity, specific area and mainly, the acidity of the catalysts are key factors in the development of these processes.In this sense, zeolite materials offer higher acidity, thermal and chemical stability at elevated temperature and a thermodynamic affinity with large molecules. On the other hand, MCM41 materials have large pore dimensions and narrow pore-size distributions and steric selectivity in the conversion of sugar molecules3. In consequence, the main objective of this work is the synthesis of mesoporous zeolite to combine the acidity of the zeolite with the high specific surface of the mesoporous silicates. This catalyst was used to complete the total hydrolysis into glucose avoiding degradation.