Microwave-assisted hydrolysis of corn cob for xylose production in formic acid

The objective of this study is to optimize the conditions for the hydrolysis of corn cob in formic acid. The effects of the formic acid concentration, reaction temperature and reaction time were investigated. The results indicated that 96.3% of xylose yield could be obtained at 100°C for 120 min in 60% (w/w) formic acid under the microwave-assisted conditions. However, under traditional oil-bath heating condition, the corresponding xylose yield was only 75.1%. On the other hand, under the microwave-assisted conditions when the corn cob was treated in 60% (w/w) formic acid at 100°C for 150 min, 71.7% of delignification yield could reached while only 31.9% of lignin was removed in oil-bath heating condition. It can be inferred that the combination of formic acid and microwave was an effective method for corn cob pretreatment.