RESUMO
This study investigates the effects of temperature and period on the pretreatment of OPEFB using the low-cost N,N,N-dimethylbutylammonium hydrogen sulfate ionic liquid ([DMBA][HSO4] IL) with 20 wt% of water. The results demonstrate that higher pretreatment temperatures (120, 150, and 170 °C) and longer periods (0.5, 1, and 2 h) enhanced lignin recovery, resulting in increased purity of the recovered pulp and subsequently enhanced glucose released during enzymatic hydrolysis. However, at 170 °C, prolonging the period led to cellulose degradation and the formation of pseudo-lignin deposited on the pulps, resulting in a decreasing-trend in glucose released. Finally, the analysis of extracted lignin reveals that increasing pretreatment severity intensified lignin depolymerisation and condensation, leading to a decrease in number average molecular weight (Mn), weight average molecular weight (Mw) and polydispersity index (D) values.
RESUMO
This study investigated the exchange affinity of Fe3+, Cu2+, and Zn2+ cations in sulfuric acid-purified montmorillonite (S-MMT) to enhance Lewis acid sites and subsequently improve the catalytic conversion of glucose to lactic acid. XRD analysis suggested the successful cation exchange process, leading to structural expansion of the resultant cation exchanged-MMTs (CE-MMTs). XRF and TGA indicated that Zn2+ had the highest exchange affinity, followed by Cu2+ and then Fe3+. This finding was further supported by the results of TPD-NH3 analysis and pyridine-adsorption test, which demonstrated that Zn-MMT had the highest total acid sites (TAS) and the ratio of Lewis acid-to-Brønsted acid surface site (LA/BA). These results indicated dominant presence of Lewis acid sites in Zn-MMT due to the higher amount of exchanged Zn2+ cations. Consistently, time-dependent catalytic studies conducted at 170 °C showed that a 7 h-reaction generated the highest lactic acid yield, with the catalytic performance increasing in the order of Fe-MMT < Cu-MMT < Zn-MMT. The study also observed the impact of adding alcohols as co-solvents with water at various ratios on the conversion of glucose to lactic acid catalysed by Zn-MMT. The addition of ethanol enhanced lactic acid yield, while methanol and propanol inhibited lactic acid formation. Notably, a water-to-ethanol ratio of 30 : 70 v/v% emerged as the optimal solvent condition, resulting in ca. 35 wt% higher lactic acid yield compared to using water alone. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the cation exchange affinity of different cations in MMT catalysts and their relevance to the conversion of glucose to lactic acid. Furthermore, the incorporation of alcohol co-solvent presents a promising way of enhancing the catalytic activity of CE-MMTs.
