Direct conversion of hemicellulose in biomass to functional diformylxylose with a recyclable organic co-solvent
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: A viable biorefinery platform requires the effective conversion of biomass’s components (cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose) into high-value chemicals, biofuels, and building blocks for functional materials. High selectivity and efficacy are guiding the development of approaches for direct conversion of biomass. Here, we propose a recyclable co-solvent system of formic acid (FA) and formaldehyde (FH) as the fraction medium allowing to control the excessive degradation of the fractionated hemicellulosic sugars. The co-solvent extraction system of FA/FH significantly promoted the selective extraction of hemicelluloses and in situ converted the xylose into diformylxylose alongside the acid hydrolysis. When a co-solvent extraction with the FA/FH ratio of 3:1 was applied, 90.15 % of xylan in bamboo was extracted and 82.83 % of the extracted xylose was eventually recovered as diformylxylose. Whereas only 48.18 % of xylose was remained under the same conditions without formaldehyde. Moreover, the fractionated diformylxylose (liquid fraction) was directly applied as a bio-based surface coating to paper substrate via hot-pressing and its functionality to improve the hydrophobicity of the treated fiber surface was confirmed. This directional conversion strategy opens a window to selectively extract and recover hemicelluloses fraction as a bio-based functional materials.
Source: Industrial Crops and Products
Authors: Xiaodi Wang, Ruijie Wu, Yongchao Zhang, Yingjuan Fu, Menghua Qin, Chunlin Xu
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,720
Awards: G1018621191, G7490504631, G8929333597
OpenAlex ID: W4416591691