Boosting levoglucosan and furfural production from corn stalks pyrolysis via electro-assisted seawater pretreatment

The seawater electrochemical pretreatment (ECP) was employed to upgrade the bio-oil of corn stalk in the paper. The seawater and its simulants were used as electrolytes without additional reagents. Moreover, the effect of seawater ECP under different conditions on the products distribution of pyrolysis bio-oil of pretreated corn stalks was investigated. The results showed that pretreatment effectively deconstructed the lignin and made cellulose exposed. Especially, under the optimum conditions (3.5 wt% NaCl, 15 V and 4 h), most of lignin was destroyed, and cellulose and hemicellulose were remained in residual solids. Furthermore, the levoglucosan and furfural were enriched in the pyrolysis bio-oil of corn stalk after seawater ECP, reaching 23.22 % and 14.14 %, respectively. Overall, this work presented a novel and green pretreatment process to optimize the components and structure of corn stalks as well as upgrade the bio-oil of corn stalk pyrolysis.

Automated summary

The seawater electrochemical pretreatment method can effectively improve the quality of bio-oil from corn stalks, using seawater as the electrolyte without additional reagents. Under optimal conditions, lignin was successfully destroyed while cellulose and hemicellulose were preserved.