Production of aromatic hydrocarbons through catalytic pyrolysis of γ-valerolactone from biomass

In the present study, γ-valerolactone (GVL) is firstly reported to be converted into aromatic hydrocarbons through catalytic pyrolysis . The catalysts and reaction conditions are both critical in maximizing the hydrocarbon selectivity . Four zeolites , i.e. MCM-41, β-zeolite, ZSM-5 and HZSM-5 were tested in this work, among which HZSM-5 (Si/Al   =   25) was found to be the most effective catalyst in both reactivity and selectivity. Under the reaction temperature of 500   °C, the highest carbon yield of 56.71% of aromatics was achieved from GVL with HZSM-5 (Si/Al   =   25) as catalyst. Moreover, the HZSM-5 catalyst was recycled for five times without significant decrease in product selectivity.