Enhanced Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Rice Straw Pretreated by Oxidants Assisted with Photocatalysis Technology.

This work evaluated the effectiveness of rice straw pretreatment using a TiO2/UV system in the presence of oxidants. The effects of TiO2 concentrations, pH and photocatalysis time were investigated. Inorganic oxidants including H2O2, K2S2O8, and KIO4 were added to further enhance the effect on enzymatic hydrolysis of rice straw. The TiO2/UV/ H2O2 pretreatment showed a higher amount of released reducing sugar (8.88 ± 0.10 mg/mL, compared to 5.47 ± 0.03 mg/mL in untreated sample). Composition analyses of rice straw after the TiO2/UV/H2O2 pretreatment showed partial lignin and hemicellulose removal. Moreover, structural features of untreated and pretreated rice straw were analyzed through FE-SEM, FT-IR, and XRD. This work suggests that H2O2 is an efficient addition for photocatalysis pretreatment of rice straw.

Characterization of a thermophilic cellulase from Geobacillus sp. HTA426, an efficient cellulase-producer on alkali pretreated of lignocellulosic biomass.

A themophilic cellulase-producing bacterium was isolated from a hot spring district and identified as Geobacillus sp. HTA426. The cellulase enzyme produced by the Geobacillus sp. HTA426 was purified through ammonium sulfate precipitation and ion exchange chromatography, with the recovery yield and fold purification of 10.14% and 5.12, respectively. The purified cellulase has a molecular weight of 40 kDa. The optimum temperature and pH for carboxymethyl cellulase (CMCase) activity of the purified cellulase were 60°C and pH 7.0, respectively. The enzyme was also stable over a wide temperature range of 50°C to 70°C after 5 h of incubation. Moreover, the strain HTA426 was able to grow and produce cellulase on alkali-treated sugarcane bagasse, rice straw and water hyacinth as carbon sources. Enzymatic hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse, which was regarded as the most effective carbon source for cellulase production (CMCase activity = 103.67 U/mL), followed by rice straw (74.70 U/mL) and water hyacinth (51.10 U/mL). This strain producing an efficient thermostable cellulose is a potential candidate for developing a more efficient and cost-effective process for converting lignocellulosic biomass into biofuel and other industrial process.

The effect of surfactant-assisted ultrasound-ionic liquid pretreatment on the structure and fermentable sugar production of a water hyacinth.

This study investigated the possibility of enhancing the disruption of water hyacinth (WH) in an ultrasound-ionic liquid (US-IL) pretreatment assisted by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([BMIM]Cl) was used to dissolve the WH. The optimum concentration of SDS for the highest production of reducing sugar was also determined. Compared to the US-IL pretreatment, the production of reducing sugars, cellulose conversion and delignification were increased by 72.23%, 58.74% and 21.01%, respectively, upon addition of 0.5% SDS. Moreover, the enhancement of SDS in the US-IL pretreatment was confirmed by the analysis of structural features, which demonstrated that the SDS increased the removal of lignin and decreased the cellulose crystallinity.

Impact of surfactant type for ionic liquid pretreatment on enhancing delignification of rice straw.

This work describes an environmentally friendly method for pretreating rice straw by using 1-Allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([AMIM]Cl) as an ionic liquid (IL) assisted by surfactants. The impacts of surfactant type (including nonionic-, anionic-, cationic- and bio-surfactant) on the ionic liquid pretreatment were investigated. The bio-surfactant+IL-pretreated rice straw showed significant lignin removal (26.14%) and exhibited higher cellulose conversion (36.21%) than the untreated (16.16%) rice straw. The cellulose conversion of the rice straw pretreated with bio-surfactant+IL was the highest and the lowest was observed for pretreated with cationic-surfactant+IL. Untreated and pretreated rice straw was thoroughly characterized through SEM and AFM. In conclusion, the results provided an effective and environmental method for pretreating lignocellulosic substrates by using green solvent (ionic liquid) and biodegradable bio-surfactant.

Synergistic effects of surfactant-assisted ionic liquid pretreatment rice straw.

The aim of this work was to study an environmentally friendly method for pretreating rice straw by using 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([BMIM]Cl) as an ionic liquid (IL) assisted by surfactants. Different temperatures, reaction times, and surfactant concentrations were studied. Compared with [BMIM]Cl only pretreatment, the addition of 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and 1% cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) increased lignin removal to 49.48% and 34.76%, respectively. Untreated and pretreated rice straw was thoroughly characterized through FTIR, XRD, and FE-SEM. Cellulose crystallinity and surface morphology of the rice straw were substantially altered after surfactant-assisted IL pretreatment. In conclusion, surfactant-assisted IL pretreatment is an effective method for producing fermentable sugars from lignocellulosic substrates.