From Viscose Waste to Platform Chemicals: Production of HMF and FDCA
(2026) KETL01 20261Chemical Engineering (M.Sc.Eng.)
- Abstract
- The textile industry is one of the world’s most polluting industries and generates large amounts of waste due to increasing consumption and short product lifetimes. At the same time, a significant fraction of textile waste consists of cellulose-based materials such as viscose, making textile waste a potential renewable carbon source for the production of bio-based chemicals. In this study, a multi-step conversion pathway for the valorisation of viscose-based textile waste into the platform chemicals 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) was investigated.
The process consisted of enzymatic hydrolysis of viscose to glucose, enzymatic isomerisa- tion of glucose to fructose, acid-catalysed dehydration of fructose... (More) - The textile industry is one of the world’s most polluting industries and generates large amounts of waste due to increasing consumption and short product lifetimes. At the same time, a significant fraction of textile waste consists of cellulose-based materials such as viscose, making textile waste a potential renewable carbon source for the production of bio-based chemicals. In this study, a multi-step conversion pathway for the valorisation of viscose-based textile waste into the platform chemicals 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) was investigated.
The process consisted of enzymatic hydrolysis of viscose to glucose, enzymatic isomerisa- tion of glucose to fructose, acid-catalysed dehydration of fructose to HMF in a biphasic water/dimethyl carbonate system using microwave heating, and subsequent whole-cell biocatalytic oxidation of HMF to FDCA. Both pre-consumer and post-consumer viscose textile waste were evaluated as feedstocks.
Enzymatic hydrolysis of pre-consumer viscose produced glucose concentrations of 77.0 g/L, which after rotary evaporation were increased to concentrations above 300 g/L. Glucose isomerisation resulted in fructose concentrations up to 157 g/L under optimised conditions. During the dehydration step, the effects of temperature, reaction time, and pH on HMF formation were investigated. The highest HMF yield relative to fructose was obtained at pH 1 and 160°C for 9 minutes, resulting in a fructose-based yield of 71.74% and a total sugar-based yield of 31.98%. Post-consumer viscose experiments produced particularly high apparent HMF yields and organic phase HMF concentrations up to 28.7 g/L.
The oxidation experiments demonstrated successful conversion of HMF into FDCA in- termediates and low but measurable FDCA formation, with yields between 5.8–9.5% for FDCA and 96–100% for HMFCA. Complete HMF conversion was achieved in all oxi- dation systems, although accumulation of intermediates, particularly HMFCA, indicated that the later oxidation steps were limiting. Post-consumer samples showed the highest FDCA yields and fastest HMF conversion during oxidation.
Overall, the results demonstrate the feasibility of converting viscose-based textile waste into value-added platform chemicals through integrated biochemical and thermochemical processing. The study further highlights the potential of textile waste as a renewable feedstock for circular chemical production and identifies several process limitations and optimisation opportunities for future development toward sustainable FDCA production. (Less) - Popular Abstract (Swedish)
- Textilindustrin använder stora mängder råvaror, vatten och energi, samtidigt som stora mängder textilier varje år blir till avfall. En stor del av dessa material återvinns inte till nya kemiska produkter, utan går i stället till förbränning eller deponi. För att minska resursförbrukningen och öka cirkulariteten behövs därför nya metoder som kan använda textilavfall som råvara.
I detta kandidatarbete undersöktes om viskosbaserat textilmaterial kan användas för att framställa värdefulla kemiska byggstenar. Viskos består huvudsakligen av cellulosa, som är en lång kedja av sockerenheter. Genom enzymatisk hydrolys kan cellulosan brytas ned till glukos. Glukosen kan därefter omvandlas till fruktos, som i sin tur kan dehydreras till... (More) - Textilindustrin använder stora mängder råvaror, vatten och energi, samtidigt som stora mängder textilier varje år blir till avfall. En stor del av dessa material återvinns inte till nya kemiska produkter, utan går i stället till förbränning eller deponi. För att minska resursförbrukningen och öka cirkulariteten behövs därför nya metoder som kan använda textilavfall som råvara.
I detta kandidatarbete undersöktes om viskosbaserat textilmaterial kan användas för att framställa värdefulla kemiska byggstenar. Viskos består huvudsakligen av cellulosa, som är en lång kedja av sockerenheter. Genom enzymatisk hydrolys kan cellulosan brytas ned till glukos. Glukosen kan därefter omvandlas till fruktos, som i sin tur kan dehydreras till 5-hydroximetylfurfural, HMF. HMF är en så kallad plattformskemikalie, vilket innebär att den kan användas som utgångspunkt för vidare framställning av flera andra kemikalier och material.
Arbetet följde en stegvis process där viskos först bröts ned till glukos med hjälp av en- zymer. Glukosen omvandlades därefter till fruktos, som användes för att producera 5- hydroximetylfurfural, HMF, i ett tvåfassystem. Slutligen undersöktes om HMF kunde oxideras vidare till 2,5-furandikarboxylsyra, FDCA. FDCA är särskilt intressant eftersom den kan användas vid framställning av biobaserade polymerer och därmed ersätta vissa fossila byggstenar i plastmaterial.
Resultaten visar att processen fungerar som ett proof-of-concept: viskos från både före- och efterkonsumenttextilier kunde omvandlas till HMF, och vidare oxidation gav FDCA- relaterade produkter. Det är särskilt relevant att efterkonsumenttextilier kunde användas, eftersom sådana material ofta är mer heterogena och kan innehålla färgämnen, tillsatser och andra föroreningar. Samtidigt visade studien att processen ännu inte är färdigutveck- lad. Utbytet påverkades tydligt av reaktionsbetingelserna, och den avslutande oxidationen till FDCA var ett begränsande steg. Trots detta visar arbetet att textilavfall kan vara mer än ett restmaterial: det kan utgöra en råvara för framtida produktion av biobaserade kemikalier och polymerer. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9229274
- author
- Wagenius, Klara LU and Medved, Lisa LU
- supervisor
-
- Mikael Sjölin LU
- Mahla Bagheri LU
- organization
- course
- KETL01 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- textile waste, viscose, HMF, FDCA, glucose, fructose, biocatalysis, circular economy
- language
- English
- id
- 9229274
- date added to LUP
- 2026-06-01 14:46:57
- date last changed
- 2026-06-01 14:46:57
@misc{9229274,
abstract = {{The textile industry is one of the world’s most polluting industries and generates large amounts of waste due to increasing consumption and short product lifetimes. At the same time, a significant fraction of textile waste consists of cellulose-based materials such as viscose, making textile waste a potential renewable carbon source for the production of bio-based chemicals. In this study, a multi-step conversion pathway for the valorisation of viscose-based textile waste into the platform chemicals 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) was investigated.
The process consisted of enzymatic hydrolysis of viscose to glucose, enzymatic isomerisa- tion of glucose to fructose, acid-catalysed dehydration of fructose to HMF in a biphasic water/dimethyl carbonate system using microwave heating, and subsequent whole-cell biocatalytic oxidation of HMF to FDCA. Both pre-consumer and post-consumer viscose textile waste were evaluated as feedstocks.
Enzymatic hydrolysis of pre-consumer viscose produced glucose concentrations of 77.0 g/L, which after rotary evaporation were increased to concentrations above 300 g/L. Glucose isomerisation resulted in fructose concentrations up to 157 g/L under optimised conditions. During the dehydration step, the effects of temperature, reaction time, and pH on HMF formation were investigated. The highest HMF yield relative to fructose was obtained at pH 1 and 160°C for 9 minutes, resulting in a fructose-based yield of 71.74% and a total sugar-based yield of 31.98%. Post-consumer viscose experiments produced particularly high apparent HMF yields and organic phase HMF concentrations up to 28.7 g/L.
The oxidation experiments demonstrated successful conversion of HMF into FDCA in- termediates and low but measurable FDCA formation, with yields between 5.8–9.5% for FDCA and 96–100% for HMFCA. Complete HMF conversion was achieved in all oxi- dation systems, although accumulation of intermediates, particularly HMFCA, indicated that the later oxidation steps were limiting. Post-consumer samples showed the highest FDCA yields and fastest HMF conversion during oxidation.
Overall, the results demonstrate the feasibility of converting viscose-based textile waste into value-added platform chemicals through integrated biochemical and thermochemical processing. The study further highlights the potential of textile waste as a renewable feedstock for circular chemical production and identifies several process limitations and optimisation opportunities for future development toward sustainable FDCA production.}},
author = {{Wagenius, Klara and Medved, Lisa}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{From Viscose Waste to Platform Chemicals: Production of HMF and FDCA}},
year = {{2026}},
}