Catalytic co-pyrolysis of cellulose and linear low-density polyethylene over MgO-impregnated catalysts with different acid-base properties.

• Co-pyrolysis of cellulose and LLDPE over MgO catalysts was performed. • MgO catalysts with different surface area and acid/base properties were used. • MgO/C has largest surface area and adequate acid-base property. • MgO/C produced the largest amounts of aromatics. Various MgO impregnated catalysts were used for the catalytic co-pyrolysis (CCP) of cellulose and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) at 600 °C in ambient pressure. Micro reactor-gas chromatography, a semi-batch reactor, was used as a reactor and gas chromatogram/mass spectrometry/flame ionization detector were used for product detection. Three kinds of MgO impregnated catalysts, MgO/Carbon (MgO/C), MgO/Al 2 O 3 , and MgO/ZrO 2 , were prepared by the impregnation of MgO to different supporting material s, C, Al 2 O 3 , and ZrO 2 , respectively. Activities of the three MgO-impregnated catalysts were compared with 1:5 of feedstock to catalyst ratio. MgO/C produced the highest quality oil, which consisted of a large amount of aromatic hydrocarbons during the catalytic pyrolysis (CP) of cellulose. When the MgO catalysts were applied to CCP, the selectivity to aromatic hydrocarbons over MgO/C were 13.42%, which were also much higher than those over the other catalysts, including bulk MgO, demonstrating the effectiveness of the MgO/C catalyst on aromatics formation. Importantly, the experimental BTEXs (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes) yields of CCP over MgO/C were also much higher than the theoretical yields, highlighting the effectiveness of hydrogen-rich LLDPE on the CP of cellulose over MgO/C. Further investigation of the cellulose/LLDPE mixing ratio showed that the amount of BTEXs during the CCP of cellulose and LLDPE could be maximized by adjusting the cellulose to LLDPE mixing ratio to 25:75. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]