Abstract
The complex organic polymer, lignin, abundant in plants, prevents the efficient extraction of sugars from the cell walls that is required for large scale biofuel production. Because lignin removal is crucial in overcoming this challenge, the question of how the nanoscale properties of the plant cell ultrastructure correlate with delignification processes is important. Here, we report how distinct molecular domains can be identified and how physical quantities of adhesion energy, elasticity, and plasticity undergo changes, and whether such quantitative observations can be used to characterize delignification. By chemically processing biomass, and employing nanometrology, the various stages of lignin removal are shown to be distinguished through the observed morphochemical and nanomechanical variations. Such spatially resolved correlations between chemistry and nanomechanics during deconstruction not only provide a better understanding of the cell wall architecture but also is vital for devising optimum chemical treatments.
Highlights
IntroductionNonreactive, and implicated in the structural integrity of plants, lignin is both sought-after[1] and unwanted.[2,3] Lignin removal is a high priority requirement for achieving efficient production of lignocellulosic biofuel.[4] Recalcitrance, the phenomenon associated with the reluctance of sugar complexes or polysaccharides, cellulose and hemicellulose, to break free from their lignin network during biological deconstruction is a molecular engineering mastered by nature.[2,3] The question of whether nanoscale alteration in the populations of the different molecular species, such as loss of lignin, would result in corresponding variations in the mechanical properties[5] of the sample is interesting in the investigation of chemical strategies[6] for overcoming recalcitrance
Being largely inert, nonreactive, and implicated in the structural integrity of plants, lignin is both sought-after[1] and unwanted.[2,3] Lignin removal is a high priority requirement for achieving efficient production of lignocellulosic biofuel.[4]
Extractive-free holopulped (EH) samples are produced from sodium chlorite treatment, which essentially bleach and breaks up the lignin, leaving behind the cellulose and hemicellulose
Summary
Nonreactive, and implicated in the structural integrity of plants, lignin is both sought-after[1] and unwanted.[2,3] Lignin removal is a high priority requirement for achieving efficient production of lignocellulosic biofuel.[4] Recalcitrance, the phenomenon associated with the reluctance of sugar complexes or polysaccharides, cellulose and hemicellulose, to break free from their lignin network during biological deconstruction is a molecular engineering mastered by nature.[2,3] The question of whether nanoscale alteration in the populations of the different molecular species, such as loss of lignin, would result in corresponding variations in the mechanical properties[5] of the sample is interesting in the investigation of chemical strategies[6] for overcoming recalcitrance. The significance of the presented work is that the invoked nanometrological tracking of the ultrastructures of the biomass, as it moves through the chemical processing stages, provides remarkable details of the cell wall architecture not previously visualized, reveals the extent of the lignin removal, and quantitatively provides variations in plasticity, elasticity, and adhesion energy
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