<br/>Despite techno-economic promises, the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass via enzymatic hydrolysis has not yet reached economic competitiveness. The main reason is the recalcitrance of biomass to bio-chemical conversion. Thus, increasing conversion and product yields necessitate pretreatments that increase biomass reactivity, such as decrystallization. However, recently, it was shown that water-induced recrystallization reduces cellulose reactivity. This observation has not been tested on real lignocellulosic biomass substrates, although it can have severe implications, since enzymatic hydrolysis is carried out under aqueous conditions.<br/>In this study, the effects of water-induced recrystallization on the reactivity of lignocellulosic biomass were investigated. For this purpose, bamboo was used as a model substrate. Ball milling pretreatment was used to reduce the crystallinity of the substrate, while the recrystallization of the ball-milled sample was carried out in warm water (~ 35 °C). Accordingly, enzymatic hydrolysis was carried after each treatment. Conversion and yields were quantified and were correlated to the structural characteristics of the substrate.<br/>Recrystallization implied that the effectiveness of a combination of pretreatments depends on their sequential application since certain approaches require the use of aqueous environments. To test this, ball milling and chlorite delignification pretreatments were combined and varied the order of each. Ball milling followed by chlorite delignification resulted in a crystalline substrate, while the reverse order produced amorphous structures. The two resulting biomass substrates were enzymatically hydrolyzed, while the conversion and yields were measured with HPLC. The results suggest that water-induced recrystallization reduces the reactivity of lignocellulosic biomass, and thus, limits the effectiveness of pretreatment processes.

Implications of water-induced recrystallization on the effects of enzymatic hydrolysis and combinatorial pretreatments of lignocellulosic biomass

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.