Photo splitting of bio-polyols and sugars to methanol and syngas.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32107386.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-020-14915-8 and PMC identifier 7046649.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Methanol is a clean liquid energy carrier of sunshine and a key platform chemical for the synthesis of olefins and aromatics. Herein, we report the conversion of biomass-derived polyols and sugars into methanol and syngas (CO+H<sub>2</sub>) via UV light irradiation under room temperature, and the bio-syngas can be further used for the synthesis of methanol. The cellulose and even raw wood sawdust could be converted into methanol or syngas after hydrogenolysis or hydrolysis pretreatment. We find Cu dispersed on titanium oxide nanorod (TNR) rich in defects is effective for the selective C-C bond cleavage to methanol. Methanol is obtained from glycerol with a co-production of H<sub>2</sub>. A syngas with CO selectivity up to 90% in the gas phase is obtained via controlling the energy band structure of Cu/TNR.
Medical subject headings
- Biofuels
- Biomass
- Nanotubes
- Ultraviolet Rays