Department of Environmental Microbiology, UFZ - Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstr. 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany.
ChemSusChem. 2022 Nov 8;15(21):e202201426. doi: 10.1002/cssc.202201426. Epub 2022 Sep 20.
Mixtures of n-carboxylic acids (n-CA) as derived from microbial conversion of waste biomass were converted to bio-fuel using Kolbe electrolysis. While providing full carbon and electron balances, key parameters like electrolysis time, chain length of n-CA, and pH were investigated for their influence on reaction efficiency. Electrolysis of n-hexanoic acid showed the highest coulombic efficiency (CE) of 58.9±16.4 % (n=4) for liquid fuel production among individually tested n-CA. Duration of the electrolysis was varied within a range of 0.27 to 1.02 faraday equivalents without loss of efficiency. Noteworthy, CE increased to around 70 % by hetero-coupling when electrolysing n-CA mixtures regardless of the applied pH. Thus, 1 L of fuel could be produced from 12.4 mol of n-CA mixture using 5.02 kWh (<1 € L ). Thus, a coupling with microbial processes producing n-CA mixtures from different organic substrates and waste is more than promising.
微生物转化废生物质得到的 n-羧酸（n-CA）混合物，通过科尔贝电解转化为生物燃料。在提供完整的碳和电子平衡的同时，研究了电解时间、n-CA 的链长和 pH 等关键参数对反应效率的影响。在单独测试的 n-CA 中，正己酸的电解显示出最高的库仑效率（CE），为 58.9±16.4%（n=4），用于液体燃料生产。在不降低效率的情况下，电解时间在 0.27 至 1.02 法拉第当量的范围内变化。值得注意的是，当电解 n-CA 混合物时，即使在应用的 pH 值不同的情况下，异偶联也能将 CE 提高到约 70%。因此，使用 5.02 kWh（<1€L-1）可以从 12.4 mol 的 n-CA 混合物中生产 1 L 的燃料。因此，与微生物过程结合，从不同的有机底物和废物中生产 n-CA 混合物是非常有前途的。
