Dutta, Shanta, Yu, Iris K M, Fan, Jiajun orcid.org/0000-0003-3721-5745 et al. (2 more authors) (2022) Critical factors for levulinic acid production from starch-rich food waste:solvent effects, reaction pressure, and phase separation. Green Chemistry. pp. 163-175. ISSN 1463-9270
Abstract
A considerable amount of food waste generated globally could be upcycled to synthesise platform chemicals to enhance environmental sustainability and realise a circular economy. This study investigates the catalytic production of the vital platform molecule levulinic acid (LA) from bread waste, a typical stream of starch-rich food waste generated worldwide. Gamma-valerolactone (GVL), isopropanol (IPA), and propylene carbonate (PC) were evaluated as bio-derived and CO2-derived green co-solvents for LA synthesis. In-vessel pressure generated in PC/H2O (1 : 1) solvent was conducive to rapid LA production from bread waste compared to GVL/H2O and IPA/H2O. In PC/H2O, 72 mol% total soluble product yield was observed quickly within 1 min in moderate reaction conditions (130 °C, 0.5 M H2SO4), whereas ∼15–20 mol% of LA could be obtained when the reaction was prolonged for 10–20 min at 130 °C. The yield of LA could be significantly enhanced in GVL/H2O through phase separation using NaCl (30 wt%(aq)). LA yield increased up to a maximum of ∼2.5 times in the biphasic system (28 mol%, 150 °C, 15 min) (representing a theoretical yield of 66%) in GVL/H2O (1 : 1) compared to the monophasic system (∼11 mol%) under the same reaction conditions. The partition coefficient for LA achieved was 4.2 in the GVL/H2O (1 : 1) biphasic medium, indicating that the system was efficient for simultaneous production and extraction of LA. Biphasic GVL/H2O facilitated selective LA production, which could be optimised by tuning the reaction conditions. These new insights can foster the development of high-performance LA production and sustainable biorefinery.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2022. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Chemistry (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 11 Jan 2022 10:20 |
Last Modified: | 31 Jan 2025 00:09 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1039/D1GC01948A |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1039/D1GC01948A |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:182379 |
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Filename: GC_ART_06_2021_001948.R2_1_.pdf
Description: GC-ART-06-2021-001948.R2