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Photodegradation of cellulose under UV light catalysed by TiO 2
Author(s) -
Fan Hongxian,
Li Gang,
Yang Fang,
Yang Lei,
Zhang Songmei
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of chemical technology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1097-4660
pISSN - 0268-2575
DOI - 10.1002/jctb.2632
Subject(s) - cellulose , photocatalysis , catalysis , degradation (telecommunications) , photodegradation , chemical engineering , materials science , hydrolysis , nuclear chemistry , yield (engineering) , irradiation , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , physics , nuclear physics , telecommunications , computer science , engineering
Abstract BACKGROUND: Since natural cellulose is an insoluble, crystalline microfibril, which is difficult to react with other compounds, most reactions related with cellulose are heterogeneous. The methods of cellulose degradation include acid hydrolysis, thermal degradation, alkaline degradation and catalytic degradation. Photocatalysis is a very powerful process. RESULTS: With 10 g cellulose dissolved in 100 mL ZnCl 2 solution (66%), the 5‐hydroxymethyl furfural yield in the corrugated plate photocatalytic reactor reached 3.87 g L −1 under the following experimental conditions: 2 h irradiation under ultraviolet (UV) lamp (power—21 W), nine TiO 2 coating cycles, and 42° corrugated plate angle. CONCLUSION: Owing to the enhancement of catalyst surface area illuminated by UV light and the large number of photons captured on the catalyst surface, the energy efficiency per mass (EE/M) of the corrugated plate photocatalytic reactor for photocatalytic degradation of cellulose was 10.9 kWh kg −1 . This is therefore an effective technology for 5‐HMF preparation from cellulose. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry