2019 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Synergy of Microwave and Graphene-Based Catalysis for Conversion of Sugars Into Useful Chemicals
| Project/Area Number |
18K05202
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| Research Institution | Kumamoto University |
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Principal Investigator |
キタイン アルマンド 熊本大学, 大学教育統括管理運営機構附属グローバル教育カレッジ, 教授 (50504693)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
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| Keywords | microwave / carbocatalysis / graphene oxide / sugars / 5-HMF / subcritical water / functionalization / bifunctional catalysts |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The reduced graphene oxide (rGO) obtained by the reduction of GO synthesized by Hummers’ method using microwave irradiation was basically used as catalysts for conversion of glucose to 5-HMF following the same experimental procedure carried out in AY2018 in order to test its catalytic activity with other carbon based catalysts such as graphite, nanodiamond, GO and rGO. The effect of catalyst doping with phosphorus (P), boron (B) and copper (Cu) was also investigated.
The highest 5-HMF yield and selectivity were obtained with rGO as the catalyst. rGO proved to be an efficient catalyst for the conversion of glucose among the tested carbocatalysts. Furthermore, from the result of elemental analysis, it can be said that the proportion of the oxygen-containing functional groups possessed by rGO was suitable and sufficient for glucose conversion to 5-HMF. Doping with P, B and Cu didn’t have any significant effect on the yield.
One student student worked on the enzyme-attachment on the surface of the rGO, and tested its effect on the hydrolysis. She was attached to Prof. Anke Krueger of Wuerzburg University in order to learn the best approach to linking of enzymes to rGO and nanodiamond. Another student also analyzed the reaction mechanism involved in the conversion of glucose to 5-HMF using molecular dynamic simulation.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.
Reason
In addition to the smoothly going planned research activities, many related topics are also currently being explored including the e-ASIA joint research program funded by JST, in collaboration with top ASEAN universities such as Chulalongkorn University, De La Salle University, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology and Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS. In this project, we are applyng microwave carbocatalysis to the conversion of algal biomass to bioenergy and biochemicals. We also work on the application of enzyme-functionalized carbocatalysts for microwave-aided reaction, which is giving us promising results. The approach has also been applied to hydrolysis of marine polysaccharide (fucoidan) for fucose production, and a research paper has been published on the summary of the results.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
Future Research Plans will include the following 2 main goals:
1. Extended application for other C5/C6 sugars
The use of this proposed novel approach will also be investigated for the conversion of other C5/C6 sugars such as fucosing mainly on fructose and fucose representing land-based and marine-based biomass.
2. Comparison of the proposed approach with the conventional methods
The proposed microwave carbocatalytic approach will be compared with the conventional methods, and analyzed by performing process simulation using software such as MATLAB or ASPEN PLUS. The kinetic parameters obtained previously will be used in the analyses. It is expected that the proposed method will give better yield and composition under milder conditions with lesser energy consumption.
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| Causes of Carryover |
Other source of funds were used for the allocated funds for some of the equipments and personnel expenditures, thus incurring an excess amount to be used in the next fiscal year. The incurred amount (98,104 yen) will be used this academic year (2020) for consumables since it is expected that more reagents and solvents will be used due to the promising results obtained in the previous year that will require further experimental investigation and verification.
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