Metal catalyzed conversion of Biomass to Maximize Hemicellulose Sugar Conversion to Valuable Organic Acids

摘要

Hemicellulose usually represents between 22 to 30% of biomass dry weight been along with cellulose and lignin the main biomass constituents. However, due to its lower degree of polymerization and crystallinity compared to cellulose, hemicellulose is more sensitive to thermal and chemical degradation during biomass pretreatment. With current pretreatment technologies, hemicellulose degradation compounds do not add value to the overall process. In fact, they may even be detrimental for subsequent fermentation or purification steps.