Catalytic conversion of xylose and corn stalk into furfural over carbon solid acid catalyst in γ-valerolactone

• The catalyst SC-CCA was prepared utilizing sucrose which is a biomass material.
• An efficient and eco-friendly method for furfural production was proposed.
• Furfural yield of 78.5% from xylose was achieved.
• 60.6% furfural yield were obtained from raw corn stalk.
• The catalyst can be reused at least for 5 runs.

A novel carbon solid acid catalyst was synthesized by the sulfonation of carbonaceous material which was prepared by carbonization of sucrose using 4-BDS as a sulfonating agent. TEM, N2 adsorption–desorption, elemental analysis, XPS and FT-IR were used to characterize the catalyst. Then, the catalyst was applied for the conversion of xylose and corn stalk into furfural in GVL. The influence of the reaction time, temperature and dosage of catalyst on xylose dehydration were also investigated. The Brønsted acid catalyst exhibited high activity in the dehydration of xylose, with a high furfural yield of 78.5% at 170 °C in 30 min. What’s more, a 60.6% furfural yield from corn stalk was achieved in 100 min at 200 °C. The recyclability of the sulfonated carbon catalyst was perfect, and it could be reused for 5 times without the loss of furfural yields.