Lignocellulosic materials are potential sustainable resources for  production of bioethanol and other liquid biofuels. However, the natural  recalcitrance of such materials to enzymatic hydrolysis is a major  obstacle to their efficient utilization. Therefore many pretreatment  methods have been developed; the AFEX (Ammonia Fiber Expansion) process  is among the more promising. To understand the reactions occurring  during AFEX on hardwoods, different poplar samples were studied. We  hypothesized that some of the altered lignins produced by transgenic  methods might allow normally difficult (to pretreat) hardwoods to  approach 'grass like ease' of pretreatment with AFEX. The amounts and/or  composition of extracted lignins (and other materials) from transgenic  Poplar vs wild-type, both AFEX treated and non-treated, were compared  with each other using NMR spectroscopy and chemometric analysis. Results  showed significant increase in extractable materials after AFEX. Also,  genetic modification of lignin can improve the yield and composition of  the extractable lignins.

Lignin (and extractable materials) from AFEX-treated wild type vs. transgenic poplars

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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