Rapid Reduction of Ag₂O into Ag by Wheat Straw and Production of Organic Acids under Mild Hydrothermal Conditions

¹ China-UK Low Carbon College, Research Center for Sustainable Technologies and Waste Resource Utilization, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 3 Yinlian Rd, 201306, Shanghai, China
² School of Environmental Science and Engineering, State Key Lab of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
³ Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, China
⁴ College of Biological Chemical Science and Engineering, Jiaxing University, No.56, South Yuexiu Road, Jiaxing 314001, China

^* Corresponding author: fmjin@sjtu.edu.cn

Abstract

Wheat straw is a kind of rich agricultural waste. Resource utilization of wheat straw has received widespread attention. Herein, a novel approach of the rapid reduction of Ag₂O into Ag by wheat straw with the production of organic acids under mild hydrothermal conditions is reported. After parameter optimization, almost all Ag₂O is converted to Ag at a mild reaction temperature of 150 ℃ and a reaction time of 60 min in sodium hydroxide solution. Meanwhile, wheat straw was converted to organic acid such as formic acid, lactic acid, and acetic acid. This offers a cost-effective approach for Ag recovery and resource utilization of biomass.