Abstract
Cellulosic ethanol is a sustainable alternative to petroleum as a transportation fuel, which could be made biologically from agricultural and forestry residues, municipal waste, or herbaceous and woody crops. Instead of putting efforts on steps overcoming the natural resistance of plants to biological breakdown, our study proposes a unique pathway to improve the outcome of the process by co-producing high-value nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC), offering a new economic leverage for cellulosic ethanol to compete with fossil fuels in the near future. In this study, glucose has been produced by commercial enzymes while the residual solids are converted into NFC via sonification. Here, we report the morphology of fibers changed through the process and yield of glucose in the enzymatic hydrolysis step.
Highlights
In response to concerns about the long–term adequacy and accessibility of fossil fuels, researchers and governments around the World are searching for alternative energy sources for transportation [1].Biofuel is one possibility, neither starch nor sucrose can meet societal demands
The amorphous domains are removed while the crystalline domains are largely unperturbed during enzymatic hydrolysis
nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) produced in this manner can be a high-value co-product coupled to bioethanol production
Summary
In response to concerns about the long–term adequacy and accessibility of fossil fuels, researchers and governments around the World are searching for alternative energy sources for transportation [1].Biofuel is one possibility, neither starch nor sucrose can meet societal demands. Subsequent cellulosic ethanol production by fermentation of those sugars is projected to be capable of displacing more than 30% of gasoline used for transportation in the United States [2,3]. For this to happen, the economics of cellulosic ethanol production must be improved significantly in the future [4]. Two commonly cited key steps in the production of cellulosic ethanol are: (1) removal of lignin [5,6], and (2) conversion of cellulose into simple sugars [7,8]
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