Noncatalytic fast hydrolysis of wood

Willow without any pretreatment, and water were studied in an optical micro-reactor, diamond anvil cell by rapid heating (7–10 °C/s) to high temperatures and high pressures (up to 403 °C and 416 MPa), most of willow (89–99%) dissolved and hydrolyzed in water at 330–403 °C within 22 s. It was found that low-density water (e.g., 571 kg/m3) solubilized almost all willow with particle size less than 200 μm, and subsequently hydrolyzed to hydrolysates in subcritical water at 354 °C and 19 MPa within 9 s. These results were further used to propose a flow process to fast hydrolyze wood in seconds to valuable sugars.