Xun Hu
Xun Hu is a professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. His research focuses on the conversion of straw into functional carbon materials, liquid fuels and fine chemicals. In addition, small molecule hydrogenation of furfural, phenols, nitrobenzene and aromatic organic intermediates and catalysts in acid catalytic process have also been studied. Moreover, the research work also involves the development of catalysts for hydrogen production, methanation and denitration of organic molecules by steam reforming. In 2016, it was selected as the youth project of the national Overseas High-level Talent Introduction Program. In 2018, he was selected into the “Taishan Scholars – Special Experts” project of Shandong Province. He won the May 4th Medal of Shandong Youth, the Shandong Youth Science and Technology Award and the first prize of the ninth Teaching achievement of Shandong Province. He has published more than 300 SCI papers in journals such as Nature Communications and Green Chemistry. The article has been cited more than 18,000 times, including more than 16,000 times in the past five years. 18 papers have been cited more than 100 times. H-index 72. There are 16 ESI highly cited papers and 2 hot papers.
Title: Upgrading of bio-oil: From biofuel to biocarbon
Abstract: Bio-oil is a condensable liquid from pyrolysis of biomass, which is regarded as the feedstock for the production of chemicals and biofuels. Bio-oil itself is a mixture of organic compounds, which can be converted into value-added chemicals and biofuels via the process such as distillation, acid-catalysis and/or hydrogenation. In addition, bio-oil could also be converted into biofuels via hydrotreatment. In these processes, a common issue is the formation of coke from the polymerization or cracking of the organics in bio-oil, which is a bottle-neck issue in the utilization of bio-oil. Based on our previous work on the understanding of the mechanism for the polymerization of the main organic components in bio-oil, we propose that bio-oil can also be a feedstock for the production of carbon materials. A process for the polymerization of the organics in bio-oil on the surface of biochar with the aid of the polymerization agent such as furfural is proposed, via which a high yield of carbon material could be produced. This approach expands the application of bio-oil as the feedstock for the production of not only chemicals and biofuels, but also carbon materials.