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Preparation of lactic acid and acetic acid via hydrothermal conversion of wheat straw with Cu/C-P biochar catalyst

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Abstract

In order to maximize the utilization of biomass waste, a Cu/C-P biochar catalyst prepared by supporting copper on the pyrolysis char derived from wheat straw was used in the hydrothermal conversion of wheat straw to prepare lactic acid and acetic acid. The catalyst was characterized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy methods. The effects of Cu loading, reaction time, reaction temperature, and catalyst dosage on the yield of lactic acid and acetic acid were studied to optimize the reaction conditions. Results showed that Cu/C-P had a noticeable catalytic effect on the hydrothermal catalytic conversion of wheat straw, with the yield of lactic acid increasing by 37.68% and the yield of acetic acid increasing by 30.58%. CuO was generated and loaded on the biochar acting as the active site of the catalyst and interacted with soluble oligomers and glucose in solution to form lactic acid and acetic acid. The interaction of oxygen-containing functional groups on the surface of the biochar with active sites Cu0 and Cu2O, which played the role of co-catalyst, improved the catalytic activity and effectively promoted the generation of lactic acid and acetic acid.

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Data availability

The authors declare that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and its Supplementary Information files. Should any raw data files be needed in another format they are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Source data are provided with this paper.

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  1. Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, China

    Xiaoya Guo, Yanling Chen, Shimang Wang & Xingyu Li

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  1. Xiaoya Guo
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Guo, X., Chen, Y., Wang, S. et al. Preparation of lactic acid and acetic acid via hydrothermal conversion of wheat straw with Cu/C-P biochar catalyst. Reac Kinet Mech Cat 136, 1437–1453 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11144-023-02418-8

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