Fast Enzymatic Saccharification of Switchgrass After Pretreatment with Ionic Liquids

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2010 · Biotechnology Progress

OSTI ID:1078189

Zhou, Hua ^[1]; Baker, Gary A ^[2]; Cowins, Janet V. ^[3]

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1. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
2. ORNL
3. Savannah State University

The pretreatment of cellulose using ionic liquids (ILs) has been shown to be an effective method for improving the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose; this technique affords a fast and complete saccharification of cellulose into reducing sugars (Dadi et al., Biotechnol Bioeng. 2006; 95:904 910; Liu and Chen, Chinese Sci Bull. 2006; 51:2432 2436; Zhao et al., J Biotechnol. 2009; 139:47 54). Motivated by these advances, this study examines the effect of IL-pretreatment on the enzymatic hydrolysis of purified xylan (as a model system of hemicellulose) and switchgrass (as a real lignocellulose). The IL-pretreatment resulted in no improvement in the hydrolysis of xylan. The likely reason is that pure xylan has a low degree of polymerization (DP), and is readily biodegraded even without any pretreatment. However, in real cellulosic materials (such as switchgrass), xylan is entrapped within the cellulosic matrix, and cannot be conveniently accessed by enzymes. Our data demonstrate that the IL-pretreatment of switchgrass significantly improved the enzymatic saccharification of both cellulose (96% D-glucose yield in 24 h) and xylan (63% D-xylose yield in 24 h). The compositional analysis of switchgrass suggests a lower lignin content after IL-pretreatment. In addition, the infrared spectrum of regenerated switchgrass indicates a lower substrate crystallinity, whereas the enzyme adsorption isotherm further implies that the regenerated substrate is more accessible to enzymes. This study has further confirmed that ILpretreatment is an effective tool in enhancing the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulosic biomass, and allowing a more complete saccharification.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
• Sponsoring Organization: SC USDOE - Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1078189
• Journal Information: Biotechnology Progress, Journal Name: Biotechnology Progress Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 26
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English