Abstract
Sugars can be a significant alternative to fossil resources, not only as biofuels, but also as hydrocarbons and starting materials for the production of polymers. Agricultural residues, forestry waste, bioenergy crops and industrial waste have potential as sources of cellulosic raw materials. Cellulose is a straight chain polymer composed of glucose monomers linked by β-1,4 glycosidic bonds. In our laboratory, a magnetically separable carbon-based solid acid catalyst has been successfully synthesized, and it can convert cellulose into glucose by the hydrolysis of theβ1,4 glycosidic bonds and decomposition of hydrogen bonded β-1,4 glucan chains. However, direct conversion from cellulose into glucose with the catalyst takes too long for industrial use. Here we show that a hydrothermal preprocessing method using mixed bubbles is effective for the hydrolysis of cellulose. The new method was more effective than the conventional method at the late stage of hydrolysis reaction.
