Enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis and structural features of corn stover by FeCl 3 pretreatment

Abstract

Corn stover was pretreated with FeCl 3 to remove almost all of the hemicellulose present and then hydrolyzed with cellulase and β-glucosidase to produce glucose. Enzymatic hydrolysis of corn stover that had been pretreated with FeCl 3 at 160 °C for 20 min resulted in an optimum yield of 98.0%. This yield was significantly higher than that of untreated corn stover (22.8%). FeCl 3 pretreatment apparently damaged the surface of corn stover and significantly increased the enzymatic digestibility, as evidenced by SEM and XRD analysis data. FTIR analysis indicated that FeCl 3 pretreatment could disrupt almost all the ether linkages and some ester linkages between lignin and carbohydrates but had no effect on delignification. The FeCl 3 pretreatment technique, as a novel pretreatment method, enhances enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass by destructing chemical composition and altering structural features.