Furfural production in a biphasic system using a carbonaceous solid acid catalyst

Abstract The formation of furfural from xylose was investigated under heterogeneously catalyzed conditions with sulfonated Starbon®450-SO3H as catalyst in a biphasic system. Experiments were performed based on a statistical experimental design. The variables considered were time and temperature. Starbon®450-SO3H was characterised by scanning electron microscopy, N2-physisorption, thermogravimetric analysis, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform, Raman spectroscopy, pyridine titration and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results indicate that sulfonated Starbon®450-SO3H can be an effective solid acid catalyst for furfural formation. A maximum furfural yield and selectivity of 70 mol% was achieved at complete xylose conversion under optimum experimental conditions. The present paper suggests that functionalized Starbon®450-SO3H can be employed as an efficient solid acid catalyst that has significant hydrothermal stability and can be reused for several cycles to produce furfural from xylose.