Propyl-Sulfonic Acid Functionalized Nanoparticles as Catalyst for Pretreatment of Corn Stover

• Published in: Journal of biomaterials and nanobiotechnology Vol. 5; no. 1; pp. 8 - 16
• Main Authors: Peña, Leidy, Xu, Feng, Hohn, Keith L., Li, Jun, Wang, Donghai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Biomass
• ISSN: 2158-7027; 2158-7043
• DOI: 10.4236/jbnb.2014.51002

Propyl-sulfonic acid-functionalized nanoparticles were synthesized, characterized and evaluated as catalysts for pretreatment of corn stover. Silica coated nanoparticles were functionalized with 0.5% mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane at neutral pH in a mixture of water and ethanol. Sulfur contents of the acid functionalized nanoparticles, measured in a CHNS analyzer, varied from 6%-10%, and the acid load ranged from 0.040 to 0.066 mmol H+/g. A Box-Behnken design was employed to calculate the minimum number experiments required to obtain an estimate of the surface response for temperature, catalyst load, and %S content of the catalyst. Complete hydrolysis of glucose was reached at 200 degree C but the average xylose yield was 4.6%, and about 20.2% of the combined glucose and xylose were lost as hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural. Results showed that acid-functionalized nanoparticles can be potential catalysts for the pretreatment of biomass for its later conversion to ethanol.