• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.87-94
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• 2020

Herein, sulfonated carbon nanotubes (CNT) have been prepared in dilute sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) via a novel sulfonation approach based on gas-liquid interfacial plasma (GLIP) at room temperature. The sulfonic acid groups and total acid groups densities of CNT after GLIP treatment in 2 M H₂SO₄ for 45 min can reach to 0.53 mmol/g and 3.64 mmol/g, which is higher than that of sulfonated CNT prepared under 0.5 M / 1 M H₂SO₄. The plasma sulfonated CNT has been applied as catalysts for the conversion of microcrystalline cellulose to glucose. The effect of hydrolysis temperature and hydrolysis time on the conversion rate and product distribution have been discussed. It demonstrates that the total conversion rate of cellulose increasing with hydrolysis temperature and hydrolysis time. Furthermore, the GLIP sulfonated CNT prepared in 2 M H₂SO₄ for 45 min has shown high catalytic stability of 85.73 % after three cycle use.