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Selective preparation for biofuels and high value chemicals based on biochar catalysts

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Abstract

The reuse of biomass wastes is crucial toward today’s energy and environmental crisis, among which, biomass-based biochar as catalysts for biofuel and high value chemical production is one of the most clean and economical solutions. In this paper, the recent advances in biofuels and high chemicals for selective production based on biochar catalysts from different biomass wastes are critically summarized. The topics mainly include the modification of biochar catalysts, the preparation of energy products, and the mechanisms of other high-value products. Suitable biochar catalysts can enhance the yield of biofuels and higher-value chemicals. Especially, the feedstock and reaction conditions of biochar catalyst, which affect the efficiency of energy products, have been the focus of recent attentions. Mechanism studies based on biochar catalysts will be helpful to the controlled products. Therefore, the design and advancement of the biochar catalyst based on mechanism research will be beneficial to increase biofuels and the conversion efficiency of chemicals into biomass. The advanced design of biochar catalysts and optimization of operational conditions based on the biomass properties are vital for the selective production of high-value chemicals and biofuels. This paper identifies the latest preparation for energy products and other high-value chemicals based on biochar catalysts progresses and offers insights into improving the yield of high selectivity for products as well as the high recyclability and low toxicity to the environment in future applications.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52100185), the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (Grant No. 2021JJ40282), the Training Program for Excellent Young Innovators of Changsha (kq2106087 and kq2106088), the Science and Technology Innovation Program of Hunan Province (2021RC2100, 2021SK2040, and 2019SK2191), and the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2018YFC1901203).

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Li, H., Hou, C., Zhai, Y. et al. Selective preparation for biofuels and high value chemicals based on biochar catalysts. Front. Energy 17, 635–653 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-023-0878-4

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