Functionalized Organosulfonic Acid Catalyzed Hydrolysis of Cellulosic Biomass for Biofuel Applications
2024-2025 USDA-NIFA Limited Competitive Research Support Award
Principal Investigators and affiliations:
PI: Dr. Ananda Amarasekara, Prairie View A&M University
Graduate Student: Jesse Nwanko
Funded: $42,000
Start Date: 10/1/2024
End Date: 6/30/2025
Project Goal
The project aims at engineering a recyclable cellulase mimic type catalyst operating around 160- 170 °C for processing energy crops and agricultural wastes to fuels/feedstock chemicals without an energy intensive pretreatments at 220 °C.
Objectives
Development of a simple, cellulase mimicking catalyst for hydrolysis of cellulose to sugars.
Study the catalysis mechanism of new cellulose binding catalysts.
Applications in cellulose hydrolysis using untreated soft biomass like switch grass, corn stover and miscanthus.
Expected Project Outcomes
Development of a technology that will save energy and reactor vessel costs as it requires a 50-60 °C lower temperature than pretreatment-cellulase process or aqueous H2SO4 process and will save catalyst costs by recycling functionalized sulfonic acid, making an economically viable process compared to currently available technologies.
