Accelerating the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulosic materials through regenerating them from ionic liquids

Hua Zhao, Cecil L. Jones, Gary A. Baker, Zhiyan Song, Olarongbe Olubajo, Vernecia Person

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

The efficient production of fuel ethanol from lignocellulosic materials is one of the research priorities in the field of renewable energy. The enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulosic substrates usually suffers from slow reaction rates and high costs. The pretreatment of lignocelluloses is known as the key to a fast enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose. Recently, a new type of non-volatile solvents, named ionic liquids (ILs), was found capable of dissolving more than 10% (wt) cellulose, xylan or lignin. In this study, several chloride and acetate-based ILs were investigated in dissolving and regenerating lignocelluloses. The regenerated biopolymers exhibited much lower crystallinity than untreated ones as confirmed by the infrared spectra, and higher accessible surfaces as suggested by the cellulase adsorption isotherm. As a result, the enzymatic hydrolysis rates of cellulosic substrates were much faster than those of untreated samples. The yields of both glucose and xylose from regenerated lignocelluloses were much higher than those from untreated ones. These preliminary results suggest that the IL-pretreatment of lignocelluloses could be an effective and less-polluting method for accelerating the enzyme hydrolysis of cellulosic substrates.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationAmerican Chemical Society - 236th National Meeting and Exposition, Abstracts of Scientific Papers
StatePublished - 2008
Externally publishedYes
Event236th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society, ACS 2008 - Philadelpia, PA, United States
Duration: Aug 17 2008Aug 21 2008

Publication series

NameACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts
ISSN (Print)0065-7727

Other

Other236th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society, ACS 2008
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityPhiladelpia, PA
Period8/17/088/21/08

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Accelerating the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulosic materials through regenerating them from ionic liquids'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this