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Title: Performance of three delignifying pretreatments on hardwoods: hydrolysis yields, comprehensive mass balances, and lignin properties

Abstract

Abstract Background In this work, three pretreatments under investigation at the DOE Bioenergy Research Centers (BRCs) were subjected to a side-by-side comparison to assess their performance on model bioenergy hardwoods (a eucalyptus and a hybrid poplar). These include co-solvent-enhanced lignocellulosic fractionation (CELF), pretreatment with an ionic liquid using potentially biomass-derived components (cholinium lysinate or [Ch][Lys]), and two-stage Cu-catalyzed alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreatment (Cu-AHP). For each of the feedstocks, the pretreatments were assessed for their impact on lignin and xylan solubilization and enzymatic hydrolysis yields as a function of enzyme loading. Lignins recovered from the pretreatments were characterized for polysaccharide content, molar mass distributions, β-aryl ether content, and response to depolymerization by thioacidolysis. Results All three pretreatments resulted in significant solubilization of lignin and xylan, with the CELF pretreatment solubilizing the majority of both biopolymer categories. Enzymatic hydrolysis yields were shown to exhibit a strong, positive correlation with the lignin solubilized for the low enzyme loadings. The pretreatment-derived solubles in the [Ch][Lys]-pretreated biomass were presumed to contribute to inhibition of enzymatic hydrolysis in the eucalyptus as a substantial fraction of the pretreatment liquor was carried forward into hydrolysis for this pretreatment. The pretreatment-solubilized lignins exhibited significant differences in polysaccharide content, molarmore » mass distributions, aromatic monomer yield by thioacidolysis, and β-aryl ether content. Key trends include a substantially higher polysaccharide content in the lignins recovered from the [Ch][Lys] pretreatment and high β-aryl ether contents and aromatic monomer yields from the Cu-AHP pretreatment. For all lignins, the 13 C NMR-determined β-aryl ether content was shown to be correlated with the monomer yield with a second-order functionality. Conclusions Overall, it was demonstrated that the three pretreatments highlighted in this study demonstrated uniquely different functionalities in reducing biomass recalcitrance and achieving higher enzymatic hydrolysis yields for the hybrid poplar while yielding a lignin-rich stream that may be suitable for valorization. Furthermore, modification of lignin during pretreatment, particularly cleavage of β-aryl ether bonds, is shown to be detrimental to subsequent depolymerization.« less

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ORCiD logo
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
OSTI Identifier:
1618770
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1572794
Grant/Contract Number:  
FC02-07ER64494; AC05-00OR22725; DOE BER DE-AC02-05CH11231; SC0018409; AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Biotechnology for Biofuels
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Biotechnology for Biofuels Journal Volume: 12 Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 1754-6834
Publisher:
Springer Science + Business Media
Country of Publication:
Netherlands
Language:
English
Subject:
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; Pretreatment; Cellulosic biofuels; Lignin; Aromatic monomers

Citation Formats

Bhalla, Aditya, Cai, Charles M., Xu, Feng, Singh, Sandip K., Bansal, Namita, Phongpreecha, Thanaphong, Dutta, Tanmoy, Foster, Cliff E., Kumar, Rajeev, Simmons, Blake A., Singh, Seema, Wyman, Charles E., Hegg, Eric L., and Hodge, David B. Performance of three delignifying pretreatments on hardwoods: hydrolysis yields, comprehensive mass balances, and lignin properties. Netherlands: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1186/s13068-019-1546-0.
Bhalla, Aditya, Cai, Charles M., Xu, Feng, Singh, Sandip K., Bansal, Namita, Phongpreecha, Thanaphong, Dutta, Tanmoy, Foster, Cliff E., Kumar, Rajeev, Simmons, Blake A., Singh, Seema, Wyman, Charles E., Hegg, Eric L., & Hodge, David B. Performance of three delignifying pretreatments on hardwoods: hydrolysis yields, comprehensive mass balances, and lignin properties. Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-019-1546-0
Bhalla, Aditya, Cai, Charles M., Xu, Feng, Singh, Sandip K., Bansal, Namita, Phongpreecha, Thanaphong, Dutta, Tanmoy, Foster, Cliff E., Kumar, Rajeev, Simmons, Blake A., Singh, Seema, Wyman, Charles E., Hegg, Eric L., and Hodge, David B. Mon . "Performance of three delignifying pretreatments on hardwoods: hydrolysis yields, comprehensive mass balances, and lignin properties". Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-019-1546-0.
@article{osti_1618770,
title = {Performance of three delignifying pretreatments on hardwoods: hydrolysis yields, comprehensive mass balances, and lignin properties},
author = {Bhalla, Aditya and Cai, Charles M. and Xu, Feng and Singh, Sandip K. and Bansal, Namita and Phongpreecha, Thanaphong and Dutta, Tanmoy and Foster, Cliff E. and Kumar, Rajeev and Simmons, Blake A. and Singh, Seema and Wyman, Charles E. and Hegg, Eric L. and Hodge, David B.},
abstractNote = {Abstract Background In this work, three pretreatments under investigation at the DOE Bioenergy Research Centers (BRCs) were subjected to a side-by-side comparison to assess their performance on model bioenergy hardwoods (a eucalyptus and a hybrid poplar). These include co-solvent-enhanced lignocellulosic fractionation (CELF), pretreatment with an ionic liquid using potentially biomass-derived components (cholinium lysinate or [Ch][Lys]), and two-stage Cu-catalyzed alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreatment (Cu-AHP). For each of the feedstocks, the pretreatments were assessed for their impact on lignin and xylan solubilization and enzymatic hydrolysis yields as a function of enzyme loading. Lignins recovered from the pretreatments were characterized for polysaccharide content, molar mass distributions, β-aryl ether content, and response to depolymerization by thioacidolysis. Results All three pretreatments resulted in significant solubilization of lignin and xylan, with the CELF pretreatment solubilizing the majority of both biopolymer categories. Enzymatic hydrolysis yields were shown to exhibit a strong, positive correlation with the lignin solubilized for the low enzyme loadings. The pretreatment-derived solubles in the [Ch][Lys]-pretreated biomass were presumed to contribute to inhibition of enzymatic hydrolysis in the eucalyptus as a substantial fraction of the pretreatment liquor was carried forward into hydrolysis for this pretreatment. The pretreatment-solubilized lignins exhibited significant differences in polysaccharide content, molar mass distributions, aromatic monomer yield by thioacidolysis, and β-aryl ether content. Key trends include a substantially higher polysaccharide content in the lignins recovered from the [Ch][Lys] pretreatment and high β-aryl ether contents and aromatic monomer yields from the Cu-AHP pretreatment. For all lignins, the 13 C NMR-determined β-aryl ether content was shown to be correlated with the monomer yield with a second-order functionality. Conclusions Overall, it was demonstrated that the three pretreatments highlighted in this study demonstrated uniquely different functionalities in reducing biomass recalcitrance and achieving higher enzymatic hydrolysis yields for the hybrid poplar while yielding a lignin-rich stream that may be suitable for valorization. Furthermore, modification of lignin during pretreatment, particularly cleavage of β-aryl ether bonds, is shown to be detrimental to subsequent depolymerization.},
doi = {10.1186/s13068-019-1546-0},
journal = {Biotechnology for Biofuels},
number = 1,
volume = 12,
place = {Netherlands},
year = {2019},
month = {9}
}

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