Fang Yang

Direct conversion of cellulose to 1-(furan-2-yl)-2-hydroxyethanone in zinc chloride solution under microwave irradiation

Conversion of cellulose to 1-(furan-2-yl)-2-hydroxyethanone has been demonstrated in concentrated zinc chloride solution under microwave irradiation. Compared with the conventional oil-bath heating mode, microwave irradiation significantly reduced the reaction time and increased the yield of 1-(furan-2-yl)-2-hydroxyethanone. A typical degradation reaction with cellulose produced 1-(furan-2-yl)-2-hydroxyethanone in 12.0% molar yield in ZnCl(2) solution (ZnCl(2)-H(2)O ratio=2.25:1, w/w) with microwave irradiation at 600 W for 5 minutes at 135°C.

Mn/ZSM-5 Participated in Degradation of Cellulose

It was presented a Fenton-like catalyst Mn/ZSM-5 to evaluate its activities in degradation of cellulose in this paper. The degree of polymerization (DP) and crystalline degree of cellulose were sharply decreased with 87% and 33.6% after the degradation. Some soluble sugars and small molecular chemicals were detected. The suggested mechanism reflecting the degradation process was proposed.

Electrocatalytic Degradation of Cellulose Using Lead Dioxide Anode

A novel method of cellulose degradation is investigated in this paper. In this work, a three-electrode system, which contains a Pb/PbO2 anode, two copper cathodes and a reference saturated calomel electrode (SCE), is applied to electrocatalytic degradation of cellulose. The composition of the products in filtrate is characterized by phenol-sulfuric acid method, NMR and GC-MS. In addition, the solid sample is analyzed via Ubbelohde capillary viscometer and FT-IR spectra. The results suggest that it is effective to convert cellulose to soluble sugar, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) and other products by electrocatalytic method. The reaction mechanism of cellulose degradation is also discussed.