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Title: Physicochemical structural changes of poplar and switchgrass during biomass pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis

Abstract

Converting lignocellulosics to simple sugars for second generation bioethanol is complicated due to biomass recalcitrance, and it requires a pretreatment stage prior to enzymatic hydrolysis. In this study, native, pretreated (acid and alkaline) and partially hydrolyzed poplar and switchgrass were characterized by using Simons’ staining for cellulose accessibility, GPC for degree of polymerization (DP), and FTIR for chemical structure of plant cell wall. The susceptibility of the pretreated biomass to enzymatic hydrolysis could not be easily predicted from differences in cellulose DP and accessibility. During hydrolysis, the most significant DP reduction occurred at the very beginning of hydrolysis, and the DP began to decrease at a significantly slower rate after this initial period, suggesting an existence of a synergistic action of endo- and exoglucanases that contribute to the occurrence of a “peeling off” mechanism. Cellulose accessibility was found to be increased at the beginning of hydrolysis, after reaching a maximum value then started to decrease. In conclusion, the fresh enzyme restart hydrolysis experiment along with the accessibility data indicated that the factors associated with the nature of enzyme such as irreversible nonspecific binding of cellulases by lignin and steric hindrance of enzymes should be responsible for the gradual slowing downmore » of the reaction rate.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  2. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
  3. Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
  4. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). BioEnergy Science Center (BESC)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
OSTI Identifier:
1319235
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 4; Journal Issue: 9; Journal ID: ISSN 2168-0485
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; 09 BIOMASS FUELS; biomass recalcitrance; cellulose accessibility; degree of polymerization; irreversible nonspecific binding; peeling off; Simons’ stain

Citation Formats

Meng, Xianzhi, Sun, Qining, Kosa, Matyas, Huang, Fang, Pu, Yunqiao, and Ragauskas, Arthur J. Physicochemical structural changes of poplar and switchgrass during biomass pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b00603.
Meng, Xianzhi, Sun, Qining, Kosa, Matyas, Huang, Fang, Pu, Yunqiao, & Ragauskas, Arthur J. Physicochemical structural changes of poplar and switchgrass during biomass pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b00603
Meng, Xianzhi, Sun, Qining, Kosa, Matyas, Huang, Fang, Pu, Yunqiao, and Ragauskas, Arthur J. 2016. "Physicochemical structural changes of poplar and switchgrass during biomass pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b00603. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1319235.
@article{osti_1319235,
title = {Physicochemical structural changes of poplar and switchgrass during biomass pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis},
author = {Meng, Xianzhi and Sun, Qining and Kosa, Matyas and Huang, Fang and Pu, Yunqiao and Ragauskas, Arthur J.},
abstractNote = {Converting lignocellulosics to simple sugars for second generation bioethanol is complicated due to biomass recalcitrance, and it requires a pretreatment stage prior to enzymatic hydrolysis. In this study, native, pretreated (acid and alkaline) and partially hydrolyzed poplar and switchgrass were characterized by using Simons’ staining for cellulose accessibility, GPC for degree of polymerization (DP), and FTIR for chemical structure of plant cell wall. The susceptibility of the pretreated biomass to enzymatic hydrolysis could not be easily predicted from differences in cellulose DP and accessibility. During hydrolysis, the most significant DP reduction occurred at the very beginning of hydrolysis, and the DP began to decrease at a significantly slower rate after this initial period, suggesting an existence of a synergistic action of endo- and exoglucanases that contribute to the occurrence of a “peeling off” mechanism. Cellulose accessibility was found to be increased at the beginning of hydrolysis, after reaching a maximum value then started to decrease. In conclusion, the fresh enzyme restart hydrolysis experiment along with the accessibility data indicated that the factors associated with the nature of enzyme such as irreversible nonspecific binding of cellulases by lignin and steric hindrance of enzymes should be responsible for the gradual slowing down of the reaction rate.},
doi = {10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b00603},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1319235}, journal = {ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering},
issn = {2168-0485},
number = 9,
volume = 4,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jul 27 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Wed Jul 27 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}

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Works referenced in this record:

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Works referencing / citing this record:

Dynamical assessment of fluorescent probes mobility in poplar cell walls reveals nanopores govern saccharification
journal, October 2018


Effects of Corn Stover Pretreated with NaOH and CaO on Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Swine Manure and Corn Stover
journal, December 2018


Structural features influential to enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose-solvent-based pretreated pinewood and elmwood for ethanol production
journal, November 2017


An In-Depth Understanding of Biomass Recalcitrance Using Natural Poplar Variants as the Feedstock
journal, December 2016