Integrated Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Bio-Based Amphiphiles using a Functionalization-Defunctionalization Approach.

Concerns over the sustainability and end-of-life properties of fossil-derived surfactants have driven interest in bio-based alternatives. Lignocellulosic biomass with its polar functional groups is an obvious feedstock for surfactant production but its use is limited by process complexity and low yield. Here, we present a simple two-step approach to prepare bio-based amphiphiles directly from hemicellulose and lignin at high yields (29 % w/w based on the total raw biomass and >80 % w/w of these two fractions). Acetal functionalization of xylan and lignin with fatty aldehydes during fractionation introduced hydrophobic segments and subsequent defunctionalization by hydrogenolysis of the xylose derivatives or acidic hydrolysis of the lignin derivatives produced amphiphiles. The resulting biodegradable xylose acetals and/or ethers, and lignin-based amphiphilic polymers both largely retained their original natural structures, but exhibited competitive or superior surface activity in water/oil systems compared to common bio-based surfactants.

Enhancement of sludge granulation in hydrolytic acidogenesis by denitrification.

Acidogenesis is an important pretreatment process for various industrial wastewater treatments. Granular sludge is an efficient form of a microbial community in anaerobic methanogenic reactors, such as upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB), but it is hard to develop in the acidogenic process due to the short hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of acidogenesis. In this study, nitrate was added into an acidogenic reactor as an electron acceptor to enhance electron exchange between acidogenic and denitrifying bacteria to accelerate sludge growth in the acidogenesis process. The results showed that it developed solid and mature granular sludge with a mean size of 410 ± 35 µm over 84 days of operation. Comparatively, the sludge in a no-nitrate acidogenic reactor showed a flocculent appearance with a mean size of 110 ± 18 µm. Analysis of the microbial community indicated that denitrifying bacteria interwoven with propionate-oxidizing bacteria were distributed in the outer granule layer, which provided an ideal shield for susceptible microorganisms inside the granules. This microbial structure was favorable for the development of granular sludge and made the system possible to respond well to shocks in the operation.