LAUSR

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the co-pyrolysis characteristics of strong-acid cation exchange resin (Amberlyst-15, denoted as A15) and cellulose (CE), in which the existing synergistic interaction effects were uncovered. Crucial variables including pyrolytic temperature, A15-to-CE mass ratio and heating rate were taken into consideration. The levoglucosenone (LGO) production from CE and inorganic sulfur-containing species release from functional sulfonic acid groups of A15 were enhanced in a temperature range of below 400 °C. In this regard, the LGO yield achieved approximately 7 wt% at 300 °C with A15-to-CE mass ratio of 1:1. Relatively, elevating the temperature and heating rate accelerated the A15 self-decomposition and small molecule fragments restructuring to give much more monocyclic and polycyclic aromatics. Noticeably, organic sulfur-containing compounds also were produced in an unignorable amount of 8.2% under preset conditions of pyrolytic temperature of 700 °C and heating rate of 20,000 °C/s. The plausible pathway for the co-pyrolysis transformation of A15 and CE was also proposed on the basis of experimental results. The present work will provide a probable and feasible strategy for the high-value utilization of biomass and waste ion-exchange resins, particularly in the aspect of the generation of certain chemicals.