(725c) Advancing Cellulose and Hemicellulose Hydrolysis from Cellulosic Materials by Surfactant Pretreatment

Lignin in pretreated cellulosic biomass can non-productively adsorb cellulase, resulting in a loss of a significant portion of this expensive protein. In addition, lignin interferes with the path for cellulase action, slowing down hydrolysis. Thus, the effectiveness of enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass can be significantly enhanced if lignin is removed or modified before adding enzymes. So a novel pretreatment method, surfactant pretreatment was proposed and further investigated in this project.

The enzymatic digestibility of solids resulting from pretreatment of corn stover with surfactant Tween-80 at 140 to 220°C was evaluated with and without addition of sulfuric acid. The optimized pretreatment condition was then determined and discussed. Results indicated that with the addition of surfactants, besides the enzymatic hydrolysis performance, total sugar recovery of the whole process was also enhanced by this kind of new pretreatment method. Possible mechanisms of surfactant pretreatment will be proposed and further verified by different kinds of analytical techniques including Infrared Spectroscopy, Elemental Analyzer, X-Ray Diffraction. Moreover, influence of surfactants on glucan and xylan hydrolysis and degradation will also be investigated.