Fractionation of Sugarcane Bagasse Using a Combined Process of Dilute Acid and Ionic Liquid Treatments

Biorefineries processing lignocellulose will produce chemicals and fuels from chemical constituents, cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin to replace fossil-derived products. Fractionation of sugarcane bagasse into three pure streams of chemical constituents was addressed through dissolution of constituents with the ionic liquids, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([EMiM]CH₃COO) or 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium methyl sulfate ([BMiM]MeSO₄). Constituents were isolated from the reaction mixture with the anti-solvents acetone (ā), acetone–water (AW), and sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Delignification was enhanced by NaOH, although resulting in impure product streams. Xylose pre-extraction (75 % w/w) by dilute acid pretreatment, prior to ionic liquid treatment, improved lignin purity after anti-solvent separation. Fractionation efficiency of the combined process was maximized (84 %) by ionic liquid treatment at 125 °C for 120 min, resulting in 80.2 % (w/w) lignin removal and 76.5 % (w/w) lignin recovery. Ionic liquids achieved similar degrees of delignification, although fully digestible cellulose-rich solids were produced only by [EMiM]CH₃COO treatment.     

Entropy of cellulose dissolution in water and in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolim chloride

The entropic driving forces of cellulose dissolution in water and in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BmimCl) are investigated via molecular dynamics simulations and the two-phase thermodynamic model. An atomistic model of cellulose was simulated at a dissociated state and a microfibril state to represent dissolution. The calculated values of entropy and internal energy changes between the two states inform the interplay of energetic and entropic driving forces in cellulose dissolution. In both water and BmimCl, we found that the entropy associated with the solvent degrees of freedom (DOF) decreases upon cellulose dissolution. However, solvent entropy reduction in BmimCl is much smaller than that in water and counteracts the entropy gain from the solute DOF to a much lesser extent. Solvent entropy reduction in water also plays a major role in making the free energy change of cellulose dissolution unfavorable at room temperature. In BmimCl, the interaction energies between solvent molecules and glucan chains and the total entropy change both contribute favorably to the dissolution free energy of cellulose. Calculations at different temperatures in the two solvents indicate that changes in total internal energy are a good indicator of the sign of the free energy change of cellulose dissolution.     

Dissecting force interactions in cellulose deconstruction reveals the required solvent versatility for overcoming biomass recalcitrance

Pretreatment for deconstructing the multifaceted interaction network in crystalline cellulose is a limiting step in making fuels from lignocellulosic biomass. Not soluble in water and most organic solvents, cellulose was found to dissolve in certain classes of ionic liquids (ILs). To elucidate the underlying mechanisms, we simulated cellulose deconstruction by peeling off an 11-residue glucan chain from a cellulose microfibril and computed the free-energy profile in water and in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BmimCl) IL. For this deconstruction process, the calculated free-energy cost/reduction in water/BmimCl is ～2 kcal/mol per glucose residue, respectively. To unravel the molecular origin of solvent-induced differences, we devised a coarse graining scheme to dissect force interactions in simulation models by a force-matching method. The results establish that solvent-glucan interactions are dependent on the deconstruction state of cellulose. Water couples to the hydroxyl and side-chain groups of glucose residues more strongly in the peeled-off state but lacks driving forces to interact with sugar rings and linker oxygens. Conversely, BmimCl demonstrates versatility in targeting glucose residues in cellulose. Anions strongly interact with hydroxyl groups, and the coupling of cations to side chains and linker oxygens is stronger in the peeled-off state. Other than enhancing anion-hydroxyl group coupling, coarse-grain analysis of force interactions identifies configuring cations to target side chains and linker oxygens as a useful design strategy for pretreatment ILs. Furthermore, the state dependence of solvent-glucan interactions highlights specific stabilization and/or frustration of the different structure states of cellulose as important design parameters for pretreatment solvents.     

Rapid dissolution of spruce cellulose in H<Subscript>2</Subscript>SO<Subscript>4</Subscript> aqueous solution at low temperature

Dissolution of cellulose is the key challenge in its applications. It has been discovered that spruce cellulose with high molecular weight (4.10 × 10⁵ g mol^?1) can be dissolved in 64 wt% H₂SO₄ aqueous solution at low temperature within 2 min, and the cellulose concentration in solution can reach as high as 5 % (w/v). FT-IR spectra and XRD spectra proved that it is a direct solvent for cellulose rather than a derivative aqueous solution system. The cold H₂SO₄ aqueous solution broke the hydrogen bonds among cellulose molecules and the low temperature dramatically slowed down the hydrolysis, which led to the dissolution of cellulose. The resultant cellulose solution was relatively stable, and the molecular weight of cellulose only slightly decreased after storage at ?20 °C for 1 h. Due to the high molecular weight of cellulose, cellulose solution could form regenerated films with good mechanical properties and transparency at low concentration (2 % w/v). This work has not only provided the new evidence of cellulose dissolution which facilitated the development of cellulose solvent, but also suggested a convenient way to directly transfer cellulose with high molecular weight into materials without structure modifications.     

Dissolution of chitin in aqueous KOH

Our NMR experiments show that chitin can dissolve well in aqueous KOH through a freeze-thawing process, and the dissolution power of the alkali solvent systems is in the order of KOH > NaOH > LiOH aqueous solution, which is totally contrary to that of cellulose in the alkali aqueous solution (i.e., LiOH > NaOH ? KOH). In this work, we systematically study the dissolution process in KOH and KOH/urea aqueous solutions. Chitin has good solubility (solubility ~80 %) in 8.4–25 wt% KOH aqueous solution at ?30 °C. The role of urea also has been investigated: unlike aqueous chitin-NaOH solutions, urea indeed enhances the solubility of chitin in KOH aqueous solutions, but the increased degree becomes unobtrusive with decreasing temperature and increasing dissolution time; the DA decline curves of chitin-KOH and chitin-KOH/urea aqueous solutions are nearly overlapping, indicating that the effect of the urea on the degree of acetylation of chitin in KOH aqueous solutions is small, similar to the NaOH/urea solvent.     

Influence of water on the dissolution of cellulose in selected ionic liquids

Cellulose (7% water) was thoroughly dispersed in various ionic liquids (IL) and the turbidity of the mixture was investigated to distinguish real dissolution from fine dispersion. The dissolving ability of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BMIMCl know cellulose solvent) and 11 other commercial IL (not reported as cellulose solvents) was studied. From the latter, only 1,3-dimethylimidazolium dimethylphosphate (DMIMDMP) could dissolve cellulose. The influence of water content on the real dissolution of cellulose in these two IL was investigated. The maximum theoretical amount of dissolved anhydrous cellulose in the IL was determined by extrapolation methodology at different temperatures. For cellulose in BMIMCl, it was 8.75 g/100 g of IL at 95 °C. DMIMDMP could achieve real cellulose dissolution only in a practically anhydrous system (2.3 g/100 g of IL at 30 °C) but dissolution was physically limited by high viscosity.     

Mesoporous structures in never-dried softwood cellulose fibers investigated by nitrogen adsorption

Nitrogen adsorption was used to characterize mesoporous structures in never-dried softwood cellulose fibers. Distinct inflections in desorption isotherms were observed over the relative vapor pressure (P/P₀) range of 0.5–0.42 for never-dried cellulose fibers and partially delignified softwood powders. The reduction in N₂ adsorption volume was attributed to cavitation of condensed N₂ present in mesopores formed via lignin removal from wood cell walls during delignification. The specific surface areas of significantly delignified softwood powders were ~150 m² g^?1, indicating that in wood cell walls 16 individual cellulose microfibrils, each 3–4 nm in width, form one cellulose fibril bundle surrounded with a thin layer of lignin and hemicelluloses. Analysis of N₂ adsorption isotherms indicates that mesopores in the softwood cellulose fibers and partially delignified softwood powders had peaks ranging from 4 to 20 nm in diameter.     

Secretome analysis of Pleurotus eryngii reveals enzymatic composition for ramie stalk degradation

Pleurotus eryngii (P. eryngii) can secrete large amount of hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes to degrade lignocellulosic biomass. In spite of several researches on the individual lignolytic enzymes, a direct deconstruction of lignocellulose by enzyme mixture is not yet possible. Identifying more high‐performance enzymes or enzyme complexes will lead to efficient in vitro lignocelluloses degradation. In this report, secretomic analysis was used to search for the new or interesting enzymes for lignocellulose degradation. Besides, the utilization ability of P. eryngii to ramie stalk substrate was evaluated from the degradation of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin in medium and six extracellular enzymes activities during different growth stages were discussed. The results showed that a high biological efficiency of 71% was obtained; cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin decomposition rates of P. eryngii were 29.2, 26.0, and 51.2%, respectively. Enzyme activity showed that carboxymethyl cellulase, xylanase, laccase, and peroxidase activity peaks appeared at the primordial initiation stage. In addition, we profiled a global view of the secretome of P. eryngii cultivated in ramie stalk media to understand the mechanism behind lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysis. Eighty‐seven nonredundant proteins were identified and a diverse group of enzymes, including cellulases, hemicellulases, pectinase, ligninase, protease, peptidases, and phosphatase implicated in lignocellulose degradation were found. In conclusion, the information in this report will be helpful to better understand the lignocelluloses degradation mechanisms of P. eryngii.     

Viscosity reduction of cellulose + 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate in the presence of CO2

Viscosities of microcrystalline cellulose + 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([bmIm][Ac]) solutions (0.6–1.2 wt%) in contact with CO₂ were measured at 312 K with a resonant vibrational viscometer. At 4 MPa and 312 K, the CO₂ could reduce the viscosity of 1.2 wt% cellulose + [bmIm][Ac] solution by about 80 %, whereas N₂ at the same conditions gave less than a 10 % reduction in viscosity. The viscosity-averaged degree of polymerization and IR spectrum showed that cellulose did not decompose during experiments and that [bmIm][Ac] acted as a non-derivatizing solvent during the dissolution and viscosity reduction process. Further, although CO₂ does react with [bmIm][Ac] to form 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium-2-carboxylate, the reaction seems to be reversible and it does not affect the cellulose. Thus, [bmIm][Ac] with CO₂ provides an effective solvent for cellulose and the solvent system can probably be recycled or reused.     

Efficient hydrolyzation of cellulose in ionic liquid by novel sulfonated biomass-based catalysts

A green and effective approach for comprehensive hydrolyzation of cellulose has been described. Several carbon-based solid acids were successfully prepared using various biomass (glucose, microcrystalline cellulose, bamboo, and rice husk) and used to catalyze cellulose hydrolysis. The acid groups (–SO₃H and –COOH) were successfully introduced onto the surface of the carbon-based solid acid catalysts as evidenced by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The structure of the prepared catalysts was characterized by scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction. The catalysts showed excellent catalytic performance for hydrolysis of cellulose. To improve the reaction efficiency, ball-milling and solubilization in ionic liquids of cellulose were adopted. A maximum total reducing sugar yield of 81.8 % was obtained in ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium chloride at 125 °C for 90 min when the water addition was 10 % of ionic liquid. This study provided a promising strategy to synthesize solid acids from lignocelluloses, which were further used to convert biomass into biofuels and platform chemicals.     

Green and Efficient Processing of Cinnamomum cassia Bark by Using Ionic Liquids: Extraction of Essential Oil and Construction of UV‐Resistant Composite Films from Residual Biomass

There is significant interest in the development of a sustainable and integrated process for the extraction of essential oils and separation of biopolymers by using novel and efficient solvent systems. Herein, cassia essential oil enriched in coumarin is extracted from Cinnamomum cassia bark by using a protic ionic liquid (IL), ethylammonium nitrate (EAN), through dissolution and the creation of a biphasic system with the help of diethyl ether. The process has been perfected, in terms of higher biomass dissolution ability and essential oil yield through the addition of aprotic ILs (based on the 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium (C₄mim) cation and chloride or acetate anions) to EAN. After extraction of oil, cellulose‐rich material and free lignin were regenerated from biomass–IL solutions by using a 1:1 mixture of acetone–water. The purity of the extracted essential oil and biopolymers were ascertained by means of FTIR spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy, and GC‐MS techniques. Because lignin contains UV‐blocking chromophores, the oil‐free residual lignocellulosic material has been directly utilized to construct UV‐light‐resistant composite materials in conjunction with the biopolymer chitosan. Composite material thus obtained was processed to form biodegradable films, which were characterized for mechanical and optical properties. The films showed excellent UV‐light resistance and mechanical properties, thereby making it a material suitable for packaging and light‐sensitive applications.     

The effect of chemical and physical characteristics of spruce SEW pulps on enzymatic hydrolysis

Conifers, which are the most abundant biomass species in Nordic countries, USA, Canada and Russia, exhibit strong resistance towards depolymerization by cellulolytic enzymes. At present, it is still not possible to isolate a single structural feature which would govern the rate and degree of enzymatic hydrolysis. On the other hand, the forest residues alone represent an important potential for biochemical production of biofuels. In this study, the effect of substrate properties on the enzymatic hydrolysis of softwood was studied. Stem wood spruce chips were fractionated by SO₂–ethanol–water (SEW) treatment to produce pulps of varying composition by applying different operating conditions. The SEW technology efficiently fractionates different types of lignocellulosic biomass by rapidly dissolving hemicelluloses and lignin. Cellulose remains fully in the solid residue which is then treated by enzymes to release glucose. The differences in enzymatic digestibility of the spruce SEW pulp fibers were interpreted in terms of their chemical and physical characteristics. A strong correlation between the residual lignin content of SEW pulp and enzymatic digestibility was observed whereas cellulose degree of polymerization and hemicellulose content of pulp were not as important. For the pulps containing about 1.5 % (w/w) lignin, 90 % enzymatic digestibility was achieved at 10 FPU enzyme charge and 24 h of hydrolysis time.     

Cellulose dissolution in aqueous lithium bromide solutions

A new all-aqueous process of the dissolution/regeneration of cellulose was developed. Cellulose was completely dissolved in the 54–60 wt% lithium bromide aqueous solutions in the temperature range of 110–130 °C within a dissolution time of 1 h. Then, the cellulose was directly regenerated from the solution by cooling down to approximately 70 °C and removing the salts with water, yielding a translucent gel. The cellulose gel was not significantly chemically decomposed even though some decrease of the degree of polymerization occurred during the dissolution/regeneration of cellulose. The X-ray diffraction analysis demonstrated that the dissolution/regeneration of cellulose induced a crystalline structural change from cellulose I to cellulose II, confirming the complete loss of the original cellulose structure. The cellulose gel had highly porous three-dimensional networks composed of fairly long cellulose fibrils interconnected with one another. The dissolution/regeneration of cellulose in aqueous lithium bromide solutions offers new and important options for cellulose-based materials.     

钾元素对生物质主要组分热解特性的影响

采用热重-红外联用仪对松木及生物质主要化学组分半纤维素、纤维素、木质素的热解特性及钾元素对其热解特性的影响进行了研究.结果表明,半纤维素、纤维素、木质素发生热解的主要温度分别为200~350 ℃、300~365 ℃和200~600 ℃;半纤维热解产物中CO、CO₂较多;纤维素热解产物中LG和醛酮类化合物最多;木质素热解主要形成固体产物,气体中CH₄相对含量较高.三种组分共热解过程中发生相互作用使热解温度提高、固体产物增加,气体中CO增加而CH₄减少.添加K₂CO₃后半纤维素和纤维素热解温度区间向低温方向移动,固体产率提高.K对纤维素作用最明显,CO、CO₂气体与固体产物产率明显增加,醛酮类和酸类物质的产率降低;木质素受K影响相对较小,热解固体产物略有增加,挥发分中H₂O和羰基物质增加;三组分共热解减弱了钾元素的催化作用.     

Room temperature dissolution of cellulose in tetra-butylammonium hydroxide aqueous solvent through adjustment of solvent amphiphilicity

The amphiphilicity of solvent systems is realized for adjusting the dissolution of natural cellulose by making use of tetra-butylammonium hydroxide (TBAH) as an example. TBAH aqueous solution is found to have an obvious effect on adjusting its amphiphilicity, along with a flexible concentration ranging from 40 to 60 wt% for dissolving cellulose. With a suitable amphiphilic property, cellulose can be dissolved by a TBAH aqueous system . The experimental results demonstrate that with the introduction of urea (more than 0.2:1, w:v) into a TBAH aqueous system, the dissolution process of cellulose can be dramatically promoted, leading to a transparent solution of cellulose. Herein, a complex solvent of TBAH/urea has been proposed for mild and effective dissolution of cellulose under ambient conditions. In the TBAH/urea complex solvent, the structure of the hybrid hydrate of TBAH and urea formed. Urea served as a hydrophobic contributor adjusting the amphiphilicity of the solvent system, allowing interfacial resistance between the amphiphilic crystal surfaces of the natural cellulose and solvent to be reduced. After that, the crystal of natural cellulose could be fully infiltrated and subsequently dissolved by the TBAH/urea aqueous solvent. The performances of the aqueous solvent and ambient temperature dissolution make aqueous TBAH/urea a potential and green solvent of cellulose for broad applications, such as composites, films or wet spinning of cellulose, in laboratories or industries.     

Pyrolytic behaviour of different biomasses (angiosperms) (maize plants,straws, and wood) in low temperature pyrolysis

The thermal degradation of agricultural products and by-products (two kinds of maize plants, wheat, and barley straw) has been investigated by means of thermogravimetric/mass spectrometric analysis at heating rates from 1 to 10 °C/min. Large differences were found in the pyrolytic behaviour of the untreated samples, mainly caused by the high content of inorganics (ash content of about 4–6 wt%). These differences could be reduced by washing the samples with cold water. A kinetic model based on the formal kinetic parameters for the pyrolysis of the main components (hemicelluloses, lignin, and cellulose) and their degradable amounts was applied. To reduce the complexity of the model, only largely ash reduced samples were used. The formal kinetic parameters for the main components of barley straw and Gavott were individually determined. Although, different monomeric lignin degradation products were found for the angiosperms of grassy biomass in comparison to woody biomass, the formal kinetic parameters for lignin degradation are similar. The transferability of the formal kinetic parameters was successfully tested by applying them to a different straw type (wheat) and to a different maize cultivar (Doge) using the results of the biochemical analysis for the main components (hemicelluloses, lignin, and cellulose).     

Effects of Liquid Hot Water Pretreatment on Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Physicochemical Changes of Corncobs

Liquid hot water (LHW) pretreatment is an efficient chemical-free strategy for enhancing enzymatic digestibility of lignocellulosic biomass for conversion to fuels and chemicals in biorefinery. In this study, effects of LHW on removals of hemicelluloses and lignin from corncobs were studied under varying reaction conditions. LHW pretreatment at 160 °C for 10 min promoted the highest levels of hemicellulose solubilization into the liquid phase, resulting into the maximized pentose yield of 58.8% in the liquid and more than 60% removal of lignin from the solid, with 73.1% glucose recovery from enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated biomass using 10 FPU/g Celluclast?. This led to the maximal glucose and pentose recoveries of 81.9 and 71.2%, respectively, when combining sugars from the liquid phase from LHW and hydrolysis of the solid. Scanning electron microscopy revealed disruption of the intact biomass structure allowing increasing enzyme’s accessibility to the cellulose microfibers which showed higher crystallinity index compared to the native biomass as shown by x-ray diffraction with a marked increase in surface area as revealed by BET measurement. The work provides an insight into effects of LHW on modification of physicochemical properties of corncobs and an efficient approach for its processing in biorefinery industry.     

Comprehensive utilization of dairy manure to produce glucose and hierarchical porous carbon for supercapacitors

Dairy manure, one of the most abundant agricultural wastes generated in livestock farming, was pretreated with KOH aqueous solution to relieve the constraint of lignin, thus facilitating cellulose hydrolysis. The generated black liquor waste was used to prepare porous carbon. Glucose yield of 261 g/kg was obtained from dairy manure pretreated in 0.73 wt% HCl aqueous solution, much higher than that obtained from crude dairy manure (116 g/kg). The generated black liquor, mainly containing lignin and KOH, was employed to prepare porous carbon via a self-templating method. The obtained material had a three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical structure and was applied for supercapacitors. Good capacitance of 202 F/g was obtained in a two-electrode system with 6 M KOH electrolyte. The porous carbon-based electrode showed excellent cycling stability with retention of 100% after 3000 galvanostatic charge–discharge (GCD) cycles. This work provides a scalable strategy for comprehensive utilization of lignocellulosic biomass resources.     

Cellulose solvent-based pretreatment for corn stover and avicel: concentrated phosphoric acid versus ionic liquid [BMIM]Cl

Since cellulose accessibility has become more recognized as the major substrate characteristic limiting hydrolysis rates and glucan digestibilities, cellulose solvent-based lignocellulose pretreatments have gained attention. In this study, we employed cellulose solvent- and organic solvent-based lignocellulose fractionation using two cellulose solvents: concentrated phosphoric acid [~85?% (w/w) H₃PO₄] and an ionic liquid Butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([BMIM]Cl). Enzymatic glucan digestibilities of concentrated phosphoric acid- and [BMIM]Cl-pretreated corn stover were 96 and 55?% after 72?h at five filter paper units of cellulase per gram of glucan, respectively. Regenerated amorphous cellulose by concentrated phosphoric acid and [BMIM]Cl had digestibilities of 100 and 92?%, respectively. Our results suggested that differences in enzymatic glucan digestibilities of concentrated phosphoric acid- and [BMIM]Cl-pretreated corn stover were attributed to combinatory factors. These results provide insights into mechanisms of cellulose solvent-based pretreatment and effects of residual cellulose solvents and lignin on enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis.     

Effects of lignin and hemicellulose contents on dissolution of wood pulp in aqueous NaOH/urea solution

Four species of delignified woodchips with about 1 % lignin content (Chlorite–Woodchips) and a series of softwood pulps with different lignin contents were prepared by sodium chlorite delignification. After mechanical defibration, some Chlorite–Woodchips were directly subjected to dissolution treatment in NaOH/urea solvent; the others were first treated with NaOH solution to remove the hemicellulose to obtain NaOH–Chlorite–Woodchips or oxidized with potassium permanganate (OPP) to remove lignin completely to obtain OPP–Chlorite–Woodchips, and then subjected to the dissolution in NaOH/urea solvent. The results showed that the dissolved proportion of the Chlorite–Woodchips ranged from 36 to 46 %, the dissolved proportion of glucan was within 12 %, and most of the hemicellulose was dissolved in NaOH/urea solvent. Compared with Chlorite–Woodchips, the dissolved proportion of NaOH–Chlorite–Woodchips was lower, but their dissolved proportion of glucan was higher. After further permanganate delignification, both the dissolved proportion of the OPP–Chlorite–Woodchips and the dissolved proportion of glucan of the OPP–Chlorite–Woodchips were higher than those of the Chlorite–Woodchips. However, the dissolved proportion of glucan was still limited to only 15–30 %. The effect of the lignin content of softwood pulps on their dissolution is complicated. With the decrease of the lignin content of softwood pulp from 6.9 to 2.8 %, the dissolved proportion of pulp increased from 14 to 26 %. However, further reduction of lignin content from 2.8 to 0.3 % led to a decrease in the dissolved proportion of pulp from 26 to 12 %. The dissolved proportion of glucan followed the same tendency. These results indicated that the dissolution of wood cellulose in NaOH/urea solvent is not simply controlled by the hemicellulose and lignin contents, but also by some other factors.