MOFCatEthanol · MOFs-based Bifunctional Catalysts for Efficient One-Pot Transformation of Biomass to Ethanol

MOFs-based Bifunctional Catalysts for Efficient One-Pot Transformation of Biomass to Ethanol

Ethanol fermented from starch and sugar is at present the most important and widely used drop-in-biofuel added to petrol to decarbonise transportation fuels. To further decarbonise, it is estimated that by 2030 about 30% of the global transportation fuel will be derived from biomass. Ethanol is expected to take an important role either as a drop-in-biofuel or to be converted into high-quality hydrocarbon fuels. Second-generation ethanol has been under development to be produced from more abundant agriculture and forestry waste (containing 40-50% cellulose), which is called cellulosic ethanol, to avoid land competing with food production. So far, cellulosic ethanol by bioconversion has been the major technology developed, which converts biomass into sugars by dilute acid pre-treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis and then into ethanol by fermentation. However, its multiple operation steps and slow bioreactions make the capital and operational cost high and hinder its commercialisation. We anticipate that a fast chemo-catalytic conversion of biomass to ethanol in one-pot will be a cost effective solution, suitable for commercial production of cellulosic ethanol. The essential, albeit now missing, step is effective catalysts. The overall objective of this project is to develop MOFs-based Bifunctional Catalysts for Efficient One-Pot Transformation of Biomass to Ethanol in an aqueous system.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union