Researchers find one-step process for converting cellulose to HMF, which can be refined into drop-in renewable fuels

In Washington, researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory report a new method for converting cellulose in a single-step to the building block HMF, which can thereupon be refined into renewable polyesters, green gasoline or green diesel.

In their research, the team used a combination of copper chloride and chromium chloride at 120 degrees Celsius broke down cellulose without created unneeded by products. The process converted 57 percent of potential sugars in cellulose and recovered 90 percent of the HMF.

“In biomass like wood, corn stover and switchgrass, cellulose is the most abundant polymer that researchers are trying to convert to biofuels and plastics,” said chemist Z. Conrad Zhang, who led the work while at PNNL’s Institute for Interfacial Catalysis.  The process converts cellulose ten times faster than the use of acid to break down cellulose.

The result builds upon earlier work by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. In that work, scientists produced HMF from simple sugars derived from cellulose. In this new work, researchers developed a way to bypass the sugar-forming step and go straight from cellulose to HMF.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

Maryland researchers find enzyme that converts cellulose to sugar in one step; potential cost breakthrough for cellulosic ethanol

In Maryland, researchers have launched a new company, Zymentis, to commercialize a new enzyme they say will convert plant cellulose into sugars in one step. The researchers, from the University of Ma...

Wisconsin researchers develop new method to create cellulosic biofuel using chemical solvents, additives

In Wisconsin, researchers at the University of Wisconsin reported a new, two step process for conversion of raw cellulose to biofuel. The researchers said that they have successfully converted biomass...

Researchers discover means to make biofuels fungus reproduce sexually; breeding enhancement now possible

In Austria, researchers working on the soil fungus Trichoderma reesei - discovered eating away canvas and clothing in the Solomon Islands during WWII - have discovered a means to breed the fungus as a...

Two research teams announce breakthroughs in converting cellulose to gasoline; Sustainable Power expected to announce biocrude expansion in Central America

In Massachusetts, a group of researchers at the University of Massachusetts announced, in the latest edition of Chemistry & Sustainability, Energy & Materials, a new "green gasoline" process that dire...

California researchers develop higher-efficiency cellulosic conversion into furfural biofuel

In California, researchers at the University of California at Davis have discovered a process to convert cellulose into furfural, an alternative biofuel, that they say is a more efficient conversion p...

German researchers identify new enzyme to convert xylose to ethanol in a single step; eliminates costly two-step process for cellulosic ethanol

In Germany, researchers at Goethe-University Frankfurt have developed a new process to convert xylose to ethanol by genetically modifying yeasts that previously would only convert glucose. The researc...