Effects of ionic catalysis on hydrogen production by the steam gasification of cellulose

In this study, significant effects of ionic catalysis on the formation of H2 and CO during the steam gasification process of cellulose are revealed. The energy of the C–H bonds of cellulose can be remarkably reduced by Na+ and OH− ions produced by the dissociation of NaOH, enabling dehydrogenation of cellulose at low temperature. Dehydrogenation of cellulose is evidently affected by the concentration of Na+ and OH− ions that cellulose can come into contact with. Higher concentrations of Na+ and OH− ions can reduce the initial dehydrogenation temperature of cellulose to lower than 403 K. The production of CO increases after this remarkable dehydrogenation of cellulose, which indicates that the C–O bonds of cellulose are prone to forming CO by pyrolysis.