本学科所属、Elaine G. Missionさん(木田研究室・博士後期3年生)が化学関連支部合同九州大会・化学工学分野においてポスター賞を受賞しました!
~Elaine G. Missionさんによるポスター内容の説明~
Biomass conversion is attracting significant interest as a sustainable resource for biofuels and biochemicals that would eventually reduce our dependence on fossil-based sources. The polysaccharides in biomass, such as cellulose, should be fragmented into its sugar constituents, which is glucose that serves as feedstock for biochemical conversion. This fragmentation process takes place via hydrolytic cleaving, or cleaving of the carbon-oxygen glycosidic linkage in cellulose chain with water. Herein, we report on how graphene-based catalysts in its pristine and reduced form with microwave irradiation, was used to effectively cleave C-O glycosidic linkage in cellulose resulting to yields >60% even without pretreatment and with water as the sole solvent.