Zhitong Zhao

• PhD
• Taiyuan University of Technology

A comprehensive economic analysis of twenty light olefin production pathways has been performed, covering current and promising processes from fossil (petroleum, coal and natural gas) and renewable resources (biomass and CO2). Taking steam cracking of naphtha as the benchmark, this study gives an economic perspective and points out the bottleneck i...

The increasing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are primarily driven by the rapid expansion of energy-intensive sectors such as the chemical industry. This work selects ethylene, one of the most important chemicals, as a model study to represent the low-carbon roadmap of chemical production. Four strategies improving the efficiency of fossil resou...

Biomass chemical industry potentially reduces fossil energy dependence and addresses climate change, however, reaching technical feasibility and economic competitiveness are still crucial challenges, especially in the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass. Herein, an early-stage analysis is conducted to evaluate technical, economic, and environment...

The decarboxylation of bio-derived fatty acids provides a sustainable pathway for the production of alkane products under mild conditions; however, products are generally obtained in low selectivity due to the uncontrollable reactivity of radical intermediates. Here we demonstrate that photogenerated radicals can be rapidly terminated by surface hy...

Sustainable technologies and efficient process design in chemical synthesis are in great demand for achieving a low-carbon society. Here, a sustainable approach for producing aromatics is designed via a biomass-derived carbon-negative route. A target aromatic yield of up to 55% was achieved using an industrial aqueous oxygenate mixture as the feeds...

Natural gas is one of the foremost basic energy sources on earth. Although biological process appears as promising valorization routes to transfer biomass to sustainable methane, the recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass is the major limitation for the production of mixing gas to meet the natural gas composition of pipeline transportation. Here...

PCTA is an important copolyester that has been widely used in our daily necessities. Currently, its monomers are industrially produced from petroleum-derived xylene. To reduce the reliance on fossil energy, we herein disclose an alternative route to access PCTA monomer (terephthalate/isophthalate = 2.4/1) in 61% overall yield using plant-based acry...

PCTA is an important copolyester that has been widely used in our daily necessities. Currently, its monomers are industrially produced from petroleum‐derived xylene. To reduce the reliance on fossil energy, we herein disclose an alternative route to access PCTA monomer (terephthalate/isophthalate=2.4/1) in 61 % overall yield using plant‐based acryl...

Quinazolinones, one class of important heterocyclic compounds, have been widely used in pharmaceuticals due to their biological activities. However, until now, to synthesize quinazolinones efficiently and economically is still a challenge. Herein, a novel synthetic approach is developed to produce quinazolinones from olefins, CO and amines over het...

Lignin is a renewable and abundant aromatic polymer found in plants. We herein propose a “cutting tail” methodology to produce phenol from lignin, which is achieved by combining Ru/CeO2 catalyst and CuCl2 oxidant via an oxidation-hydrogenation route. Phenol was obtained from separated poplar lignin with 13 wt % yield. Even raw biomass, such as popl...

1,4‐Cyclohexanedimethanol (CHDM), 1,4‐cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid (CHDA), and 1,2‐cyclohexanedicarboxylates are valuable polyester monomers and plasticizers. In this work, we propose a new strategy for the synthesis of these compounds via a proline‐catalyzed formal [3+1+2] cycloaddition of formaldehyde, crotonaldehyde, and acrylate (or fumarate),...

1,4‐Cyclohexanedimethanol (CHDM), 1,4‐cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid (CHDA), and 1,2‐cyclohexanedicarboxylates are valuable polyester monomers and plasticizers. In this work, we propose a new strategy for the synthesis of these compounds via a proline‐catalyzed formal [3+1+2] cycloaddition of formaldehyde, crotonaldehyde, and acrylate (or fumarate),...

Biomass is the most abundant and the only renewable carbon resource which shows great potential for sustainable production of chemicals in the future. Concerning the diminishing of the limited fossil reserves, biomass conversion has aroused global attention. The use of biomass as a resource has developed rapidly in recent years, and various kinds o...

The environmental effect analysis for the ethylene process from five production processes including crude oil, crude coal, raw material, ethylene and electricity in China was studied through life cycle assessment (LCA) approach by IMPACT 2002+, which covered thirteen impact factors. It was found that the impact of non-renewable energy, global warmi...