Bioalcohols are alternatives to petroleum-based chemicals. Particularly biobutanol is an interesting compound, with properties superior to bioethanol. It is difficult, however, to separate biobutanol from the mixtures produced by the fermentation of biomass.
Joeri F. M. Denayer, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, demonstrate that butanol can be efficiently isolated from aqueous mixtures in the presence of other organic contaminants that are typically produced in fermentation processes yielding biobutanol, by adsorption on the metal–organic framework ZIF-8.
The large capacity of this material, its high stability, and its ease of regeneration and desorption, offer perspectives for the economical and low-energy-intensity production of biobutanol, possibly via fixed-bed or simulatedmoving-bed adsorption processes. In view of the recent preparation of ZIF-8 membranes, continuous membrane separation of butanol also comes into perspective.
- Biobutanol Separation with the Metal–Organic Framework ZIF-8,
Julien Cousin Saint Remi, Tom Remy, Vincent Van Hunskerken, Stijn van de Perre, Tim Duerinck, Michael Maes, Dirk De Vos, Elena Gobechiya, Christine E. A. Kirschhock, Gino V. Baron, Joeri F. M. Denayer,
ChemSusChem 2011.
DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201100261
