Abstract
An effective pretreatment to improve cellulose accessibility and facilitate glucose release is crucial in a cellulosic ethanol biorefinery. This work comparatively assessed four H2O2-involved pretreatments, i.e., concentrated H3PO4 plus H2O2 (PHP), H2O2–CH3COOH (HPAC), alkaline-H2O2 (AHP), and Fenton chemistry (FC), for their pretreatment performances on wheat straw, poplar, and birch biomass. Substrate characteristics before and after pretreatment were assessed using SEM, XRD, and LSCM. The hydrolytic potentials of the pretreated substrates were compared by Simons’ stain and cellulose–glucose conversion assessment. The results showed that acidic H2O2-involved pretreatments (PHP and HPAC) were more efficient in biomass delignification compared to AHP and FC. PHP pretreatment is more promising for cellulosic ethanol production due to its corresponding high glucose yield (368.0 mg g−1) after enzymatic hydrolysis.
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