The selective hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass constituents still represents one major challenge for the sustainable exploitation of biomass feedstocks towards chemicals and fuels. Despite advances in biotechnology and biocatalytic methods, there is an inherent attractiveness about utilising thermochemical methods for biomass upgrade. However, these processes are typically slow and offer little selectivity. The utilisation of microwave reactors for biomass hydrolysis and pyrolysis is now known among the field, and there is some agreement that it offers substantial advantages in terms of efficiency. However, there is very little being done on combining mirowaves with catalysis in biomass upgrade. Furthermore, the hardest challenge of obtaining high selectivity towards sugars in hydrolytic processes and their direct upgrade towards high-value molecules is still receiving little attention and we believe that it requires innovative approaches.<br/><br/>In this presentation, we will present how the combined effect of catalysis and flow microwave reactors can result in highly selective reactions and yields in the selective hydrolysis of biomass, to the extent that it is comparable to biocatalysis and fermentation methods. Additionally, high-pressure microwave reactors produce several times faster hydrogenation reactions (i.e. furfural, glucose, starch) in the upgrade of biomass-derived sugars as compared to conventional heating and they represent a very exciting technology for the development of the bioeconomy and new one-pot processes today.

Utilisation of microwave irradiation in the catalytic upgrade of cellulose and hemicellulose derivatives: Hydrolysis and hydrogenation reactions

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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