Innovative Chemistry for Biorefinery
. Thailand is an agricultural country, producing many important agricultural products and possessing rich bioresources. However, during the process of consumption, enormous agricultural wastes and bio-wastes are produced each year. Therefore, cutting-edge research and technologies that are capable of turning agricultural by-products to value-added bio-chemicals, biofuels, and bio-based materials, as well as biorefinery and innovative separation techniques are of particular importance and wide attention. These knowledge and technologies are not only key to drive Bio-Circular-Green Economy in Thailand, but also have high potential for renewable bio-based energy source as a substitute for conventional fossil resources.
. Chemical conversions of biomass-based raw materials derived from agricultural by-products from the sugar industry for biorefinery is in our interest. Biomass-based raw materials will be efficiently converted to value-added chemicals through catalysis science and technology. Selected chemical platforms derived from biomass will be considered based on the availability of raw materials in both member countries and the feasibility of upscaling and commercialization. The criteria for the selection are as follows: green productions, conservation of original functional groups, no competition with bioprocesses and many potential applications.
. There are many pathways in the conversion of agricultural by-products from the sugar industry in biorefinery to value-added specialty chemicals. One chemical platform that will be selected for this project is 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), which can serve as a monomer that yields similar properties to polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The green condition for the production of FDCA will be chosen by using water as a medium and oxygen gas as a green oxidant. The starting materials to produce FDCA can be hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) or fructose. The development of new catalytic systems to enable the conversion of both HMF and fructose to FDCA is proposed in this project, using an approach of introducing Lewis acidity to a specific oxidant. The combination of Lewis acid catalysts and oxidants may create interesting pathways to yield FDCA. In addition, the new catalytic systems must be active at the upscaling conditions. The collaboration between the two countries will speed up the investigation of catalytic systems for the production of new value-added specialty chemicals at the pilot scale. The expertise in chemical engineering and research facilities in Taiwan will prove to be very important to the success of this project.