Renewable p-Xylene Production by Co-catalytic Pyrolysis of Cellulose and Methanol

This work developed a one-step process for renewable p-xylene production by co-catalytic fast pyrolysis (co-CFP) of cellulose and methanol over the different metal oxides modified ZSM5 catalysts. It has been proven that \rmL\rma_\rm2\rmO_\rm3-modified ZSM5(80) catalyst was an effective one for the production of bio-based p-xylene. The selectivity and yield of p-xylene strongly depended on the acidity of the catalysts, reaction temperature, and methanol content. The highest p-xylene yield of 14.5 C-mol% with a p-xylene/xylenes ratio of 86.8% was obtained by the co-CFP of cellulose with 33wt% methanol over 20%\rmL\rma_\rm2\rmO_\rm3-ZSM5(80) catalyst. The deactivation of the catalysts during the catalytic pyrolysis process was investigated in detail. The reaction pathway for the formation of p-xylene from cellulose was proposed based on the analysis of products and the characterization of catalysts.