Experimental Study on Role of Xylose on Furfural Decomposition in Acidic Composition

Abstract

Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) is broadly used as a catalyst to accelerate hemicellulose and a considerable part of the lignin components decomposition to generate sugars as intermediate chemicals for further processing steps. Mainly, lignocellulose biomass such as hardwoods, agricultural waste, and grasses contains xylose as major constituent. Thus, the presence of xylose in decomposition of lignocellulose biomass is obvious. Meanwhile, the furfural production originates mainly from the hydrolysis of hemicellulose into monomeric sugars and the dehydration of sugars into furfural. Shortly, this works is to investigate the role of xylose in furfural decomposition. To gain insight into role of xylose in furfural decomposition, xylose and furfural were added into ampoules containing sulfuric acid. The investigated parameters were xylose concentration, T and t. During the reaction, the parameters were kept constant. The product was filtered, then, qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed by HPLC. The result shows that the presence of Xylose in sulfuric acid solution as a catalyst contributes the competition of decomposition mechanism. The xylose at the early time of the reaction, 15 minutes, needed time to initiate the reaction, so the furfural was exposed with the decomposition. Xylose would be mostly degraded into furfural and glyceraldehyde within 15 minutes of the reaction. This finding is obviously described in chromate profile which identified xylose, furfural, glyceraldehyde, and formic acid. The other component formed during the reaction was humins (insoluble polymer).