Lignocellulosic materials have attracted extensive interest as a potential source of second-generation biofuel referred to as biomass-to-liquid technology (BLT). The structural heterogeneity and complexity of cell wall, however, rely on the natural resistance of plant cell walls to microbial and enzymatic deconstruction referred to as biomass recalcitrance. To overcome the recalcitrance of biomass and thereby increase conversion yields of biomass by enzymatic hydrolysis, pretreatment processes must be employed prior to biomass deconstruction. Surface characterization with chemical imaging can provide the insight to predict what would be of the physiochemical changes on biomass during the pretreatment process. Herein, we illustrate the chemical imaging of pretreated/deconstructed biomass using imaging mass spectrometry (IMS); time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry ?ToF-SIMS?. ToF-SIMS has been applied to achieve the major component images (e.g. cellulose, xylan, and lignins) and their semi-quantitative variation after pretreatment on the surface of poplar stem. The ToF-SIMS images represent excellent cell wall components under submicron scale. 3D microanalysis combined with surface sputtering also shows lateral distribution of major components of tension wood which can be related to the recalcitrance of biomass.

Surface characterization of biomass (tension wood and pretreated poplar stem) by imaging mass spectrometry: 2D and 3D ToF-SIMS image

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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