Catalytic fast pyrolysis of biomass with Ni-P-MCM-41 to selectively produce levoglucosenone

Abstract Levoglucosenone (LGO) is a valuable chiral synthon and can be produced from pyrolysis of cellulose and biomass. In the present study, Ni-P-MCM-41 catalysts with various P-to-Ni ratios were prepared and employed for selective production of LGO from biomass. Both analytical pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) and lab-scale experiments were conducted to explore the effects of several factors on the formation of LGO, including P-to-Ni ratio in Ni-P-MCM-41, catalyst/sample ratio and pyrolysis temperature. The results revealed that all the Ni-P-MCM-41 catalysts, especially the one with a P-to-Ni ratio of 5, exhibited excellent catalytic capability and selectivity for LGO production. For Py-GC/MS, the maximal LGO yields of 27.34 wt% and 14.30 wt% were achieved from cellulose and pine at 350 °C with catalyst/cellulose ratio of 3 and catalyst/pine ratio of 2, respectively. While in lab-scale experiments, the highest LGO yields from cellulose and pine were 21.37 wt% and 10.71 wt%, with the corresponding selectivity of 78.31% and 53.75%, respectively. The Ni-P-MCM-41 catalyst possessed much better catalytic efficiency on the LGO production than previously reported catalysts, including H2SO4, H3PO4, solid superacid, solid phosphoric acid and activated carbon.