College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Feb 10;807(Pt 2):150660. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150660. Epub 2021 Oct 8.
Water hyacinth is a major aquatic plant in ecological restoration which propagates rapidly, whereas its biomass waste lacks value-added utilization routes. To address this problem, we put forth an innovative two-step carbonization strategy to convert water hyacinth to catalyst for isomerization of glucose to fructose. Through combining the hydrothermal carbonization and pyrolysis, catalyst morphology including its carbon substrate and calcium salts was successfully engineered. The prepared hydrochar-based catalyst presented an outstanding catalytic performance, the optimal of which could obtain 31% fructose yield with 89% selectivity at 120 °C for 45 min in water and maintain the reactivity for at least three runs. The catalytic reactivity was derived from the crystallization of endogenous alkaline earth calcium in water hyacinth, which was comparable to catalysts doped with expensive metals. Besides, the equipment and energy requirements for preparation were quite low-demanding (calcined only at 400 °C for 1 h). This study not only pioneers a sustainable way to upcycle aquatic biomass, but also invents a low-cost and efficient catalyst for biorefinery through the production of engineered carbon.
水葫芦是生态修复中一种主要的水生植物，其繁殖迅速，但生物量废弃物缺乏增值利用途径。针对这一问题，我们提出了一种创新的两步碳化策略，将水葫芦转化为将葡萄糖异构化为果糖的催化剂。通过结合水热碳化和热解，成功地对催化剂的形态，包括其碳基质和钙盐进行了工程设计。所制备的基于水热炭的催化剂表现出优异的催化性能，在水相中 120°C 下反应 45 分钟时，最优条件下可获得 31%的果糖收率和 89%的选择性，至少可进行三次反应。这种催化活性来源于水葫芦内源性碱性土钙的结晶，其性能可与掺杂昂贵金属的催化剂相媲美。此外，其制备所需的设备和能源要求也很低（仅在 400°C 下煅烧 1 小时）。本研究不仅为水生生物质的可持续循环利用开辟了新途径，而且通过工程化碳的生产，为生物炼制发明了一种低成本、高效的催化剂。
