Cellulose Fast Pyrolysis Activated by Intramolecular Hydrogen Bonds

The conversion of inedible biomass by fast pyrolysis is a promising route for sustainable production of renewable fuels and value-added chemicals, but low selectivity toward desired products hampers its economic viability. Understanding the molecular-level reaction pathways of biomass fast pyrolysis could be the key to overcoming this challenge. However, the effects of intramolecular and interchain hydrogen bonds near the reaction center have not been thoroughly explored. In this work, the reaction pathways and kinetics of fast pyrolysis of cellulose, a major component of biomass, were investigated using the density functional theory. A new intramolecular hydroxyl-activated mechanism is presented for cellulose activation. Our calculations incorporating noncovalent interactions accurately captured the activation energy of 50.8 kcal mol^-1, agreeable with the apparent activation energy measured experimentally. The findings of cellulose pyrolysis provide insights into the investigation of interactions during real-life biomass pyrolysis.

New Perspectives into Cellulose Fast Pyrolysis Kinetics Using a Py-GC × GC-FID/MS System

Cellulose pyrolysis is reportedly influenced by factors such as sample size, crystallinity, or different morphologies. However, there seems to be a lack of understanding of the mechanistic details that explain the observed differences in the pyrolysis yields. This study aims to investigate the influence of particle size and crystallinity of cellulose by performing pyrolysis reactions at temperatures of 673–873 K using a micropyrolyzer apparatus coupled to a GC × GC-FID/TOF-MS and a customized GC-TCD. Over 60 product species have been identified and quantified for the first time, including water. Crystalline cellulose with an average particle size of 30–50 × 10^–6 m produced 50–60 wt % levoglucosan. Predominantly amorphous cellulose with an average particle size of 10–20 × 10^–6 m resulted in remarkably low yields (10–15 wt %) of levoglucosan complemented by higher yields of water and glycolaldehyde. A detailed kinetic model for cellulose pyrolysis was used to obtain mechanistic insights into the different pyrolysis product compositions. The kinetics of the mid-chain dehydration and fragmentation reactions strongly influence the total yields of low-molecular weight products (LMWPs) and are affected by cellulose chain arrangement. Levoglucosan yields are very sensitive to the activation of parallel cellulose decomposition reactions. This can be attributed to the mid-chain reactions forming smaller chains with the levoglucosan ends, which remain in the solid phase and react further to form LMWPs. Direct quantification of water helped to improve the description of the dehydration, giving further indications of the dominant role of mid-chain reaction pathways in amorphous cellulose pyrolysis.