Effect of Electron Beam Irradiation and Ionic Liquid Combined Pretreatment Method on Various Lignocellulosic Biomass

Abstract

The objective of this study was to characterize the performance of lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) to assess its use as a potential bioethanol or biofuels through pretreatment process. The pretreatment process was performed to remove crystalline structural of biomasses in order to improve enzymatic hydrolysis process. In this work, combined electron beam irradiation and ionic liquid method was used as the pretreatment process for various LCBs such as Gigantochloa albociliata (GA), Leucaena leucocephala (LL), oil palm frond (OPF), acacia and microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) as reference. Irradiation dose was measured through electron beam accelerator over a range of 100-1000 kGy. Ionic liquid (IL) is known as green solvent that can dissolve cellulose. 50% v/v 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (EMIMAc) IL was employed to enhance the effect of irradiation in pretreatment process. The LCBs was analyzed by using two method; Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). FTIR result shows different pattern of spectra and peak for each condition. Lateral order index (LOI) based on Beer’s Law was also calculated to determine the changes in structure order after pretretament. For XRD results, the crystallinity index (CrI) of pretreated LCBs was calculated by using Segal’s Equation in order to determine the pattern based on different conditions. The highest percentage of effectiveness showed by pretreated Acacia as the values of LOI and CrI is the lowest compared to other LCBs which is 41.77% and 25.21%, respectively.