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Investigation into Properties of Carbohydrate Polymers Formed from Acid‐Catalyzed Conversion of Sugar Monomers/Oligomers over Brønsted Acid Catalysts
Author(s) -
Sun Kai,
Zhang Lijun,
Zhang Zhanming,
Shao Yuewen,
Sun Yifan,
Zhang Shu,
Liu Qing,
Wang Yi,
Hu Guangzhi,
Hu Xun
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
energy technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.91
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 2194-4296
pISSN - 2194-4288
DOI - 10.1002/ente.201901476
Subject(s) - furfural , chemistry , catalysis , monomer , organic chemistry , steric effects , polymerization , sugar , polymer chemistry , polymer
Steric hindrance is an intrinsic issue for solid acid catalysts in catalyzing conversion of sugars with a certain size. Herein, the conversion of furfural and sugar monomers/oligomers over a heterogeneous catalyst (D008) and homogeneous acid (H 2 SO 4 ) is conducted in aqueous medium. The results indicate the steric hindrance of D008 shows more significant effects on the conversion of the sugars than that of furfural, as the chain form of the sugar monomers/oligomers is much bigger than that of furfural in size. The high local concentration of hydrogen ions on D008 facilitates furfural polymerization via opening of the furan ring through hydration reactions. The deactivation of D008 is responsible for the low yield of volatile products when the polymer formed from the polymerization of the sugars fills the pores. The sugar structures determine the polymer's properties. Thermal stability of the coke derived from the sugar oligomers is lower than that from the sugar monomers due to more aliphatic structures in the resulting coke. In addition, the coke derived from the sugars is more hydrophilic than that from furfural, due to the multiple hydroxyl group in the sugar substrates.