Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-8-2026

Department

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Department of Chemical Engineering

Abstract

Biomass contains up to 14 essential elements that serve as nutrients for plant growth and development, including photosynthesis and enzyme functionalities. These elements in different chemical forms (e.g., minerals) constitute the inorganic fraction of biomass and can cause operational issues in thermal and biochemical biomass conversion technologies. In biomass gasification and pyrolysis processes, for instance, inorganics can cause fouling, tar formation, and corrosion. In catalytic and biochemical processes, inorganics can poison catalysts, alter biochemical pathways, and modify product yields and selectivity. This review provides an overview of the inorganic content in biomass feedstocks, the critical role inorganics play in plant biochemistry, the effect that inorganics have in various thermochemical and biochemical biomass conversion technologies, and different approaches to remove them from biomass. We provide recommendations for future research, focusing on developing technologies to effectively remove inorganics from biomass, using the inorganics to improve soil quality and for alternative applications, and designing biorefineries to convert demineralized biomass obtained from diverse sources.

Publisher's Statement

Copyright © 2026 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.5c00784

Publication Title

Chemical Reviews

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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