The Role of Ionic Liquids on Biomass Liquefaction—A Short Review of the Recent Advances

Abstract

Biomass is recognised as one of the most attractive feedstocks among the alternative resources, having a high potential for the sustainable production of valuable chemicals and biofuels. Due to its abundance, convenience, carbon neutrality and eco-friendliness, biomass is believed to positively impact the current environmental crisis caused by the extensive use of petroleum resources. For this reason, the search for processes that can convert this feedstock, resolving some inherent drawbacks, is needed. Biomass liquefaction using ionic liquids (ILs) as catalysts has received appreciable attention in renewable fuels and chemicals production. With the potential for a substantial number of anion and cation pairings, ILs can be an attractive medium towards reusability and sustainability for these processes due to the unique and tunable combinations of their functional groups-and, therefore, their properties. In this review, several studies using ILs in biomass liquefaction are compared and discussed. With a particular emphasis on the last five years, advantages and disadvantages will be discussed using this class of liquids addressing essential issues such as yields, reusability and conversion, among others.