Solid Acid–Mediated Hydrolysis of Biomass for Producing Biofuels

Hydrolysis of biomass is one of the most challenging steps in its conversion to sugars and hence to biofuels. Conventional catalysts are expensive and dicult to be recycled. Solid acid catalysts (SACs) have been proven recently as eective in lignocellulose hydrolysis with the advantage of easy recovery and recycling and are environmentally benign compared to the homogeneous mineral acids. e review introduces SACs in the context of biomass hydrolysis and discusses the various aspects of SAC-mediated hydrolysis of cellulosic materials, including the catalysts themselves, the conditions of hydrolysis, the recent advances in the use of SACs for biomass hydrolysis, the recovery and reuse of SACs, and the limitations in the use of SACs.