Microwave-assisted acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of hemicelluloses in rice husk into xylose

The development of an environmentally benign process for the hydrolysis of hemicelluloses into xylose could be one of the key technologies for making full use of biomass in the future. This paper studies dilute acid hydrolysis of hemicelluloses in rice husk (RH) into xylose using microwave radiation. Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflection spectroscopy was employed to quantitatively analyze xylose. The influences of hydrolysis parameters such as temperature, time, acid concentration, and ratio of RH to sulfuric acid on the yield of xylose in acid hydrolysis of RH were also investigated. The optimum hydrolysis conditions of hemicelluloses in RH to xylose are as follows: 4 wt% of H₂SO₄ concentration, 150 °C hydrolysis temperature, 25 min reaction time, and 1:7 ratio of RH (g) to H₂SO₄ (mL). Under optimum hydrolysis conditions, a yield of 32.96% xylose is obtained.