HCl Gas: A Versatile Catalyst for Retrieving Nanocellulose and Sugars form Biomass

While acid hydrolysis can be seen as an outdated or, at best, traditional means of degrading cellulose into nanocrystals or sugars, the use of HCl gas has demonstrated viable, modern pathways to added value products from biomass. This webinar summarizes the application of HCl gas on diverse cellulosic substrates, including various cellulose polymorphs, solid wood, bacterial cellulose, holocellulose, and agricultural residues. Processes leading directly into high yields of nanocrystals are presented.

Learning outcomes 

• Identify the main benefits and challenges related to HCl gas hydrolysis of cellulosic fibers
• Give examples of products and their yields acquired by HCl gas hydrolysis

Eero Kontturi heads a research group on materials chemistry of cellulose at Aalto University (Finland). He has a Ph.D. degree from Eindhoven University of Technology (The Netherlands) and he has worked as an academic visitor in UPMC Paris (France), University of Vienna (Austria), and Imperial College London (UK). He was appointed as associate professor at the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems at Aalto University in 2014. His research interests are focused on interfacial phenomena around bio-based materials.