The effects of autohydrolysis pretreatment on the structural characteristics, adsorptive and catalytic properties of the activated carbon prepared from Eucommia ulmoides Oliver based on a biorefinery process

• Published in: Bioresource technology Vol. 232; pp. 159 - 167
• Main Authors: Zhu, Ming-Qiang, Wang, Zhi-Wen, Wen, Jia-Long, Qiu, Ling, Zhu, Ya-Hong, Su, Yin-Quan, Wei, Qin, Sun, Run-Cang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2017
• Subjects: Activated carbon; Adsorption; Autohydrolysis pretreatment; Bioreactors; Carbon - chemistry; Carbon - isolation & purification; Catalysis; Catalytic methane decomposition; Charcoal - chemistry; Charcoal - isolation & purification; Charcoal - pharmacokinetics; Eucommia ulmoides Oliver; Eucommiaceae - chemistry; Glucuronates - chemistry; Glucuronates - isolation & purification; Hydrolysis; Oligosaccharides - chemistry; Oligosaccharides - isolation & purification; Polysaccharides - chemistry; Polysaccharides - isolation & purification; Wood - chemistry; Xylooligosaccharides; Eucommia ulmoides Oliver; Catalytic methane decomposition; Autohydrolysis pretreatment; Activated carbon; Xylooligosaccharides
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.02.033

[Display omitted] •Eucommia wood was subjected to autohydrolysis followed by carbonization process.•The degraded hemicelluloses and activated carbon can be produced from the process.•The structural characteristic of the degraded hemicelluloses was elucidated.•The specific surface area of the optimal activated carbon reached 1534.06m2/g.•The activated carbon showed a moderate catalytic activity for hydrogen production. Eucommia ulmoides Oliver (EU) wood was consecutively treated by autohydrolysis pretreatment and chemical carbonization post-treatment based on a biorefinery process. Results showed that the optimal condition of the autohydrolysis pretreatment and carbonization process yielded 10.37kg xylooligosaccharides (XOS), 1.39kg degraded hemicellulosic products, 17.29kg other degraded products from hemicelluloses and 40.72kg activated carbon (SBET of 1534.06m2/g) from the 100kg raw materials. Simultaneously, 29.14kg gas products generated from the optimum integrated process was significantly lower than that from the direct carbonization process (68.84kg). Besides, the optimal activated carbon (AC170–1.0) also showed a moderate catalytic activity and high stability for hydrogen production by catalytic methane decomposition. Overall, the data presented indicated that the integrated process is an eco-friendly and efficient process to produce XOS and activated carbon, which is beneficial for value-added and industrial application of EU wood.