@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}},
}