The Effect of Calcium-Based Salt on Hydrothermal Carbonization of Corncob
Corncob represents a great potential as a raw material for the production of high-value added chemicals, fuels and other industrial products. Thus, corncob is suitable residue for study molecular structure through the pretreatment method. In this study, the effect of calcium-based salts on the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of corncob were studied at 160, 180, and 200 °C for 2 h. CaSO4 and Ca3(PO4)2 were used as a reaction medium. Hydrochar was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and ATR-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). Characteristics of the hydrochar varied with calcium-based salt. Cellulose crystallinity in hydrochar decreased dramatically and carbon content in hydrochar obviously increased when Ca3(PO4)2 and CaSO4 were added, respectively. In case of hydrothermal at 180°C with Ca3(PO4)2 and CaSO4, the carbon microsphere was occurred.