Preparation of Rice Husk Carbon-based Solid Acid Catalyst for the Dehydration of Xylose to Furfural

A carbon-based solid acid catalyst, prepared by the sulfonation of rice husk carbon, was proved to be an efficient and environmental benign catalyst for the dehydration of xylose to furfural. The catalyst was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), elemental analysis and Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM). The total acid site concentrations of the catalyst samples were obtained using standard acid-base back titration. The acid site concentration of 1. 03 mmol/g was obtained when the 4. 0 g of rice husk carbon was sulfonated by 15 mL of H2SO4 at 150 degrees C for 8 h. The effects of solvent, reaction temperature and time on the dehydration of xylose to furfural catalyzed by the rice husk carbon-based solid acid catalyst were studied. The results indicate that the yield of furfural increases gradually with the increase of reaction temperature and with the prolonger of the reaction time. The catalytic performance of the synthesized catalyst is better when using HMSO as reaction solvent than that of using water as solvent. A maximum furfural yield of 75. 8% was achieved. The repeated usability and regeneration of the catalyst was investigated.