CO2-catalyzed hydrolysis of cellulose in hot-compressed water.

Cellulose is a kind of abundant renewable resources on the earth.A lot of valuable compounds can be prepared by cellulose hydrolysis.CO2-catalyzed hydrolysis of cellulose was experimentally investigated in hot-compressed water using degreased cotton as model cellulose.The experimental results showed that CO2 could catalyze the hydrolysis of cellulose effectively.DSC analysis indicated that the softening point for the samples after hydrolysis being shifted toward the high temperature zone.SEM showed that the crystal cellulose could be hydrolyzed under the CO2 catalyzed conditions,while the hydrolysis predominantly took place in the non-crystal areas without CO2 catalyzing.The effects of temperature,pressure and reaction time on hydrolysis of cellulose were also investigated.