One-pot hydrothermal conversion of different residues to value-added chemicals using new acidic carbonaceous catalyst.

The direct hydrothermal conversion of waste biomass to 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (5-HMF) and levulinic acid was studied here in the presence of new biomass-derived sulfonated carbonaceous solid acid catalysts. Different cheap and waste lignocellulosic/cellulosic biomass materials (wheat straw, corn straw, cotton linter and industrial textile fluff) were used as feedstock to prepare bio-based chemicals in an eco-friendly and economical process. The yields of products were improved by optimization of reaction temperature, reaction time and catalyst type for various types of biomass. Under the optimum reaction conditions BT300S sulfonated solid acid carbonaceous catalyst has exhibited higher activity compared to commercial Amberlyst 15 thus 403.7 ppm 5-HMF (16.2 mg 5-HMF/g biomass) and 1624.8 ppm LA (65.6 mg LA/g biomass) have been generated from corn straw biomass in aqueous media at 200 °C in 1 h.