Abstract
Hydrolysis of α-cellulose by H2SO4 is a heterogeneous reaction. As such the reaction is influenced by physical factors. The hydrolysis reaction is therefore controlled not only by the reaction conditions (acid concentration and temperature) but also by the physical state of the cellulose. As evidence of this, the reaction rates measured at the high-temperature region (above 200°C) exhibited a sudden change in apparent activation energy at a certain temperature, deviating from Arrhenius law. Furthermore, α-cellulose, once it was dissolved into concentrated H2SO4 and reprecipitated, showed a reaction rate two orders of magnitude higher than that of untreated cellulose, about the same magnitude as cornstarch. The α-cellulose when treated with a varying level of H2SO4 underwent an abrupt change in physical structure (fibrous form to gelatinous form) at about 65% H2SO4. The sudden shift of physical structure and reaction pattern in response to acid concentration and temperature indicates that the main factor causing the change in cellulose structure is disruption of hydrogen bonding. Finding effective means of disrupting hydrogen bonding before or during the hydrolysis reaction may lead to a novel biomass saccharification process.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Fengel, D. and Wegener, G. (1984), Wood Chemistry, Ultrastructure, Reactions, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, Germany.
Shafizadeh, F. (1963), TAPPI J. 46, 381–383.
Timell, T. E. (1964), Can. J. Chem. 42, 1456–1472.
Harris, J. F. (1975), Appl. Polym. Symp. 28, 131–144.
Philipp, B., Jacopian, V., Loth, F., Hirte, W., and Schulz, G. (1979), in Hydrolysis of Cellulose: Mechanisms of Enzymatic and Acid Catalysis, Advances in Chemistry Series No. 181, Brown, Jr. R. D. and Jurasek, L., eds., American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, pp. 127–143.
Saeman, J. F. (1945), Ind. Eng. Chem. 37, 43–52.
Springer, E. L. (1966), Tappi 49, 102–106.
Daruwalla, E. H. and Shet, R. T. (1962), Text. Res. J. 32, 942–954
Nelson, M. L. (1960), J. Polym. Sci. 43, 351–371.
Millett, M. A., Effland, M. J., and Caulfield, D. F. (1979), in Hydrolysis of Cellulose: Mechanisms of Enzymatic and Acid Catalysis, Advances in Chemistry Series No. 181, Brown, Jr. R. D. and Jurasek, L., eds., American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, pp. 71–89.
Torget, R. W., Kim, J. S., and Lee, Y. Y. (2000), Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 39, 2817–2825.
(1995) NREL Chemical Analysis and Testing Standard Procedure, No. 001-014, National Renewable Energy Laboratories, Golden, CO.
Sasaki, M., Kabyemela, B., Adschiri, T, Malaluan, R., Hirose, S., Takeda, N., and Arai, K. (1997), unpublished poster presentation in Fourth International Symposium on Supercritical Fluids, Sendai, Japan.
Sasaki, M., Fang, Z., Fukushima, Y., Adschiri, T., and Arai, K. (2000), Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 39, 2883–2890.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Xiang, Q., Lee, Y.Y., Pettersson, P.O., Torget, R.W. (2003). Heterogeneous Aspects of Acid Hydrolysis of α-Cellulose. In: Davison, B.H., Lee, J.W., Finkelstein, M., McMillan, J.D. (eds) Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0057-4_42
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0057-4_42
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-6592-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-0057-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive