Production of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) from delignified rice husk waste over Cu and Ni metal-organic framework catalyst

2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) as a monomer in polyethylene furandicarboxylic (PEF) has been used as a substitute plastic for polyethylene terephthalate (PET). This study focuses on the one-pot production of FDCA from delignified rice husk waste (DRHW) using metal-organic framework (MOF) catalysts. Cu-BTC and Ni-BTC catalysts were synthesized from Cu and Ni metals with benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic (H₃BTC) as the linker, and characterized using IR, XRD, FE-SEM, N₂ physisorption, and XPS. The rice husk waste substrate was pre-treated by dewaxing and delignification to obtain cellulose-rich DRHW. IR analysis and Klason lignin determination confirmed a reduction in lignin content from 38 to 11 %. The one-pot conversion of DRHW to FDCA was carried out at 130 °C for 9–25 h, achieving conversion approximately 50 % with FDCA yields of 10.4 and 11.7 % for Cu-BTC and Ni-BTC, respectively, after 17 h. To support the interpretation of the catalytic behavior in this complex system, additional experiments were conducted using D(+)-glucose as a model substrate under similar conditions. FDCA yields of 16.7 and 19.5 % were obtained for Cu-BTC and Ni-BTC, respectively, from D(+)-glucose conversion. Ni-BTC demonstrated superior FDCA yields and catalyst reusability, while Cu-BTC exhibited higher turnover frequency (TOF) with values of 754 and 387 h⁻¹ for the conversion of D(+)-glucose and DRHW, respectively.