Ionic liquid‐mediated selective extraction of lignin from wood leading to enhanced enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis

Citations Over TimeTop 1% of 2008 papers

Abstract

Lignocellulose represents a key sustainable source of biomass for transformation into biofuels and bio-based products. Unfortunately, lignocellulosic biomass is highly recalcitrant to biotransformation, both microbial and enzymatic, which limits its use and prevents economically viable conversion into value-added products. As a result, effective pretreatment strategies are necessary, which invariably involves high energy processing or results in the degradation of key components of lignocellulose. In this work, the ionic liquid, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([Emim][CH3COO]), was used as a pretreatment solvent to extract lignin from wood flour. The cellulose in the pretreated wood flour becomes far less crystalline without undergoing solubilization. When 40% of the lignin was removed, the cellulose crystallinity index dropped below 45, resulting in > 90% of the cellulose in wood flour to be hydrolyzed by Trichoderma viride cellulase. [Emim] [CH3COO] was easily reused, thereby resulting in a highly concentrated solution of chemically unmodified lignin, which may serve as a valuable source of a polyaromatic material as a value-added product.

Related Papers

• → Effect of Lignin Chemistry on the Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Woody Biomass(2014)186 cited
• → Comparative study on enzymatic digestibility of acid-pretreated poplar and larch based on a comprehensive analysis of the lignin-derived recalcitrance(2020)94 cited
• → The dual effects of lignin content on enzymatic hydrolysis using film composed of cellulose and lignin as a structure model(2015)40 cited
• → Enzymatic in situ saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass in ionic liquids using an ionic liquid-tolerant cellulases(2016)30 cited
• → Reduction of surface area of lignin improves enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose from hydrothermally pretreated wheat straw(2014)16 cited