Microwave-enhanced pyrolysis of bamboo for furfural-rich bio-oil production over WS2 catalyst

The efficient utilization of bamboo waste has attracted increasing interest as a promising solution to address the challenges associated with climate change and promote a more environmentally friendly approach to resource utilization. Herein, we demonstrated the highly selective production of furfural from bamboo through a microwave-assisted pyrolysis (MAP) process using WS 2 catalysts. Firstly, the content of furfural can be precisely regulated by manipulating key process conditions such as microwave power, temperature and the mass ratio of WS 2 to bamboo. Notably, compared to non-catalyzed MAP, the presence of the WS 2 catalyst significantly enhanced the production of both furfural and furan components. The optimal content of furfural and furan components reached up to 66.9 area% and 75.6 area% in bio-oil under the conditions of 700 W, 400 °C and a 3:10 WS 2 to bamboo ratio for 15 min. Furthermore, the liquid oil mainly consisted of C5 and C6 products (86.5 area%), indicating that MAP enhances the selectivity of small molecular products and furan compounds when coupled with the WS 2 catalyst. Experimental results revealed that WS 2 played bifunctional roles as a microwave absorbent and catalyst, promoting the bio-oil content and limiting the secondary pyrolysis of furan components, leading to a high selectivity of furan and a high content of furan products. This work provides valuable insights into producing furan-rich bio-oil from bamboo through MAP over transition metal dichalcogenides materials.