Ether-functionalized ionic liquids as solvent for Gigantochloa scortechini dissolution

Abstract

The search of new sustainable energy sources based on renewable biomass feedstocks from lignocellulose biomass constituents namely cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin is a global effort to replace fossil fuel sources. Several conventional methods that have been used for extracting constituents via biomass dissolution include acid and base hydrolyses. However, these processes offer several drawbacks and therefore cannot be considered as environmental-friendly. This study investigates the dissolution of bamboo biomass from species Gigantochloa scortechini in low-viscosity ether-functionalized ionic liquids (ILs) by employing direct probe sonication method. Two ether-functionalized ILs which are MOE-MImCl and MOE-BImCl have been synthesized and characterized and their performance towards biomass dissolution have been tested. Results show that both MOE-MImCl and MOE-BImCl are able to dissolve the biomass with percentage dissolution of 88.1% and 28.1%, respectively with 20 minutes dissolution time. FTIR analyses were also done on both untreated biomass and regenerated biomass. The recyclability of the ILs for dissolving biomass was also tested and results show that the percentage of biomass dissolved in the recycled ILs reduce by approximately 10% of the original values.