Researchers develop low-cost route to produce bio-based FDCA
Last update on Jul 23, 2026
A team led by Prof. ZHANG Yajie at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), reports developing an oxidation process that converts 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) into FDCA at a cost the team describes as competitive with petroleum-based counterparts.
The study was published in Bioresource Technology.
Aiming to cut FDCA production costs to competitive levels
Biomass is one of the most abundant renewable resources, and its catalytic conversion into chemicals and fuels is regarded as a pathway toward reducing dependence on fossil-based feedstocks.
FDCA is currently considered the only bio-based aromatic dicarboxylic acid with industrialization potential comparable to petrochemical-based terephthalic acid (TPA). Its industrial development, however, has been constrained by high production costs - driven both by the cost of HMF as a raw material and by the oxidation step itself.
According to the NIMTE team, over a decade of work led to an oxidation process based on NaClO, KBr, and TEMPO for converting HMF into FDCA. The researchers report that they analyzed the oxidation mechanism, validated the process at a 100-metric-ton pilot scale, and assessed its economic and technical feasibility for operation at 100,000-metric-ton scale. Using water as the solvent, the process achieves a near-100% yield of FDCA from HMF, according to the study.
Building on this process and its surrounding upstream and downstream industries, the team proposes a three-chain coupling strategy linking photovoltaics, the chlor-alkali industry, and FDCA production. In this model, photovoltaics supply green energy to both chlor-alkali production and FDCA oxidation, while the waste salt (NaCl) generated from chlor-alkali electrolysis serves as feedstock for FDCA oxidation - an arrangement the researchers say also addresses the solid waste generated by the reaction.
At an annual production scale of 100,000 metric tons, the team projects a theoretical FDCA cost of approximately $721–$1,101 per ton, a range the researchers say closes the cost gap with petroleum-based TPA. For formulators tracking the economic feasibility of bio-based aromatic building blocks, this narrows the distance between lab-scale demonstration and industrial-scale viability.
By linking FDCA production to China's photovoltaic and chlor-alkali sectors, the researchers present the coupling strategy as a way to combine renewable energy use with bio-based chemical output across the full production chain, and as one possible direction for the transformation of established chlor-alkali operations.