Study of Niobium as a Catalyst for Conversion of Cellulosic Biomass Into Multiple Value-added Products in Aqueous Medium

Abstract

This work aimed to evaluate the catalytic activity of the catalysts niobium phosphate (PNb), niobium acid (HNb) and the 1:1 mechanical mixture of both catalysts (HPNb) based on the results obtained for the yield of glucose, xylose, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and furfural (FF) using holocellulose, solid material with a high cellulose and hemicellulose content, as raw material. The variables studied were temperature and time between 150 and 200 °C and 0 and 360 min. The reaction mixture consisted of an aqueous solution containing 6% (m/m) holocellulose and a holocellulose/catalyst ratio of 3:1. The highest yield obtained for HMF was 44.8 g/kg(holocellulose) at 200 °C with a reaction time of 60 min. For FF, a 69.8 g/kg(holocellulose) yield was obtained at 200 °C and 90 min. The yields obtained with HPNb exhibited intermediate results compared to PNb and HMF catalysts, with no significant differences justifying using a mixture of both catalysts.