Damaged starch derived carbon foam-supported heteropolyacid for catalytic conversion of cellulose: Improved catalytic performance and efficient reusability

To develop an efficient heterogeneous catalyst with good stability and reusability for catalytic conversion of cellulose to platform compounds, carbon foam (CF) was used to immobilize phosphotungstic acid (HPW) to prepare CF-supported HPW (HPW/CF) catalyst. Three-dimensional CF was prepared by carbonization of bread (precursor of CF) with mechanical activation (MA)-damaged starch, gluten protein, and yeast as materials. CF30 (30 wt% of gluten protein) exhibited good mechanical strength, relatively high specific surface area, and desired hierarchical porous structure. HPW was successfully anchored onto CF30 by grafting to prepare HPW/CF30 catalyst, which could effectively catalyze the hydrolysis of cellulose to produce glucose, especially for the hydrolysis of MA-pretreated cellulose with small granules and amorphous structure. The affinity between free hydroxyl groups of MA-pretreated cellulose and oxygen-containing groups of CF30 enhanced the catalytic efficiency of HPW/CF30. In addition, HPW/CF30 catalyst exhibited good reusability and was easily separated from reaction system for recycling.