Catalytic conversion of biomass to platform-chemicals and exploitation of the solid residue as CO2-trapper

Nowadays, about 86% of fuels and 96% of chemicals in the world are obtained from fossil resources such as coal, petroleum and natural gas. However, due to the continuous decrease of the availability of fossil resources and the growing interest in environmental problems, the research is focussing on the exploitation of new alternative renewable feedstocks. In particular, lignocellulosic biomass results a promising precursor of several valuable products, thank to its abundance, low cost and reduced environmental impact. Levulinic acid (LA) is one of the most important renewable platform-chemicals deriving from its transformation, representing an intermediate for the synthesis of fuel additives, solvents, pharmaceuticals and plasticisers. In this work, the conversion of hazelnut shells, an abundant waste of the Italian food industry, was completed exploited, in agreement with the biorefinery concept. In this sense, the one-pot hydrothermal acid treatment was carried out and optimised, allowing the recovery of both levulinic acid and the carbon-rich hydrochar, as solid residue. The recovered hydrochar was characterized and it was proposed as precursor for the synthesis of activated carbons (CAs), subsequently employed in preliminary solid/liquid and solid/gas adsorption tests.