Aqueous-phase reforming (APR) is reported for the first time for the production of H 2 from actual biomass. The experiments are carried out in batch using a 100 mL Parr microreactor heated to 225 °C. In this one-pot, two-step process, acid hydrolysis is used to break down the polymeric constituents of biomass to smaller soluble molecules and these species are reformed using a Pt/Al 2 O 3 catalyst. The experiments show that increasing the acid concentration from 1% to 5% causes more than a 12-fold increase in H 2 concentration, with hydrogen being a minor product accounting for 18% of the noncondensable gas phase and CO 2 as the major product. In the presence of the Pt/Al 2 O 3 reforming catalyst, both the selectivity and yield of hydrogen in the gas phase increase. This is accompanied by a noticeable decrease in carbon monoxide production, which is attributed to the activation of the water gas shift reaction catalyzed by platinum. Comparison with other feeds such as glucose, wastepaper, and ethylene glycol showed that the amount of hydrogen produced from biomass is of a comparable magnitude per gram of feed, although biomass yields more hydrogen per gram of carbohydrate than either glucose or wastepaper. Baseline experiments with only the catalysts in the absence of any biomass show no increase in the reactor system pressure when only water and helium are present, indicating that the observed hydrogen produced is sourced from the biomass.

Copper reduction to metallic copper from dilute acid solutions containing Cu +2 was studied by means of sawdust from Radiata Pine as a reducing agent. Influence of the temperature, copper concentration and reaction time on the reduction of copper was investigated using an autoclave reactor. Furthermore, maximum reduction capacity of the sawdust was calculated through consecutive reductions. Results obtained show that diluted acid solutions containing Cu +2 can be effectively reduced to metallic copper by sawdust from Radiata Pine above 120°C. For a 0.5 g L −1 Cu +2 solution at 120°C and in 60 min, close to 90% of the copper can be reduced to metallic copper, which crystalises on the surface of the wood particles. At 120°C and for 90 min reaction time up to 95% of the copper can be reduced, generating an effluent with 0.02 g L −1 of copper. This value is similar to those obtained using activated carbon. Consecutive steps of reductions of the sawdust with fresh solutions with 0.5 g L −1 Cu +2 indicate that for 6 steps, the copper load of the sawdust is about 11.9 kg Cu/ton sawdust (dry basis) while for more concentrated solutions of 16.7 gL −1 Cu +2 the copper load reaches 15.0 kg Cu/ton sawdust. These results indicate that this process could be an alternative to conventional electrowinning.