Organosolv Pretreatment Research Articles

Life cycle assessment of tomato biomass residue anaerobic digestion preceded by ethanol-based organosolv and choline chloride-based deep eutectic solvent

Anaerobic digestion (AD) of lignocellulosic wastes (LW) has garnered substantial interest because of its notable energy and nutrient recovery, along with its potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, the LW is resistant to degradation, and its hydrolysis typically requires harsh conditions, hence the need for a pretreatment. Conducting a life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the pretreatment of LW is an effective way to assess the environmental impacts associated with various pretreatment methods. This work evaluates and compares three scenarios for handling lignified tomato green waste (TGW), generated in the Greater of Agadir in Morocco, in terms of their environmental impacts and energy demand, using the LCA approach, performed with OpenLCA software. To achieve this aim, the impact of these scenarios on 11 indicators is studied. The analyzed management options include a base case scenario S0 where TGW undergoes a direct anaerobic digestion (AD), organosolv pretreatment of TGW followed by AD of the free-lignin fraction (S1), and choline chloride-based deep eutectic solvent (DES) delignification followed by AD of the free-lignin fraction (S2). The data used for the analysis comes from the Tamelast landfill, laboratory tests, literature, CML-IA baseline and Monte Carlo simulation calculations. The results obtained showed that the introduction of pretreatments in S1 and S2 mitigates significantly the environmental impact in different categories compared to S0. Scenario S2, with its enhanced recovery processes, shows the highest positive environmental contributions, despite its reliance on additional external electricity. S1 and S0 both respect energy circularity. Through this study, it has been demonstrated that chemical pretreatment of LW is energy, water and solvent-intensive and requires a large investment. It opens up perspectives for further works on pretreatment using natural DES technology, its development and its applications in the delignification of ligneous biomass on an industrial scale.

Integrated approach for co-production of bioethanol and light aromatics from lignocellulose through polyethylene glycol-aided acidic glycerol pretreatment

Acid-catalyzed glycerol organosolv (GO) pretreatment is a promising method for lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) fractionation. However, this method often leads to lignin repolymerization, intensifying lignin's inhibitory effects on subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis and limiting the production of highly active lignin, thereby hindering its valorization. This study explored incorporating polyethylene glycol (PEG) into acidic-catalyzed GO to improve bioethanol and bio-oil yields, with a focus on improving the yield of light aromatics, from LCB. Optimized PEG-aided GO pretreatment achieved a significantly higher bioethanol yield (23.7 g/L) compared to GO (17 g/L) and dilute acid (DA: 11.3 g/L) pretreatments. This improvement is attributed to the ability of PEG to mitigate lignin inhibition and modify the physicochemical properties of the pretreated substrate. Furthermore, thermal pyrolysis of PEG-aided GO lignin, obtained after the fermentation process, resulted in a substantially increased bio-oil yield (45.5 %) compared to GO (19 %) and DA (12 %). The enhanced bio-oil yield from PEG-aided GO lignin is ascribed to the promotion of β-O-4 linkages and the formation of β-O-4′ linkages. Characterization of the pyrolysis bio-oil revealed that light aromatic compounds were the dominant fraction, with their relative abundance significantly increasing from DA (5.9 %) to GO (9.7 %) and PEG-aided GO lignin (24.9 %). The PEG-aided GO method achieved an energy output of 8.85 MJ/kg, exceeding that of the GO and DA methods by 31 % and 57 %, respectively. The energy conversion efficiency of the PEG-aided GO method was 70 %, demonstrating a significant improvement compared to GO (57 %) and DA (51 %). This approach promotes the circular economy by upcycling LCB for bioethanol and valuable light aromatic compound production.

Crude glycerol-water organosolv delignification of sugarcane bagasse to produce fermentable sugars

This study evaluated the organosolv pretreatment with crude glycerol as a cosolvent for the delignification of raw sugarcane bagasse and the release of fermentable sugars from enriched-cellulose fraction by enzymatic hydrolysis. The pretreated solid fractions were characterized by pulp yield, weight loss, cellulose and hemicellulose content, lignin content, and delignification extent. Condition 9 (210 ºC, 60 min, 8 mL g-1) led to the highest delignification (~79%) with high total reducing sugars (TRS) concentration (~300 g L-1) and lower carbohydrate preservation (< 41%). While condition 1 (180 ºC, 150 min, 8 mL g-1) led to the highest cellulose preservation (~70%) and TRS (> 412 g L-1), even with a lower delignification extent (> 69%). This work contributed to an effective and optimized strategy to reuse crude glycerol in organosolv pretreatment as a facilitator of lignocellulose delignification, in addition to validating new protocols for the biorefinery production chain, providing sustainable biomaterials with added value.

Enhanced biobutanol production with sustainable Co-substrates synergy from paper waste and garden waste with municipal biowaste

Synergy in the co-processing of lignocellulosic wastes and municipal biowaste (MB) can unlock their potential for biobutanol production. This study assessed the potential for biobutanol production through the co-processing of lignocellulosic waste and MB. Specifically, it compared the co-processing of paper waste with MB to that of garden waste and MB. Ethanol organosolv pretreatment served as a dual-function process for both pretreatment and detoxification purposes. Initial fermentation of hydrolysates from untreated paper waste using Clostridium acetobutylicum produced 0.9 g/L of acetone and ethanol but no detectable butanol. Organosolv pretreatment led to a significant increase in acetone and ethanol production but did not yield butanol. Co-processing paper waste with MB using organosolv pretreatment resulted in the production of 2.8–3.2 g/L butanol, along with increased acetone and ethanol production. Furthermore, co-processing a 1:1 (w/w) mixture of paper waste and MB under mild and severe pretreatment conditions produced 45.5 g and 43.4 g butanol, respectively, compared to 34.8 g and 14.4 g butanol when processing these waste streams separately. The study also explored the positive impact of co-processing garden waste with MB, a distinct lignocellulosic source, enhancing acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) yield by 27–40%. These findings highlight the potential of synergistic waste co-processing for achieving a more suitable balance of nutrients to enhance biobutanol and ABE production from biowastes. Additionally, the simultaneous treatment of lignocellulosic waste and municipal biowaste offers a simplified approach to waste processing, contributing to advancements in sustainable biomass utilization and bioenergy production.

Isolation of Highly Crystalline Cellulose via Combined Pretreatment/Fractionation and Extraction Procedures within a Biorefinery Concept.

Sustainable production of bio-based materials and chemicals requires integrated approaches which utilize all fractions of lignocellulosic biomass. In this work, highly crystalline cellulose was isolated via combined pretreatment/fractionation and extraction processes from beechwood sawdust. The proposed approach was based on the selective recovery of hemicellulose components in the first step, followed by enhanced delignification in the second step, permitting the efficient recovery of the remaining cellulose via bleaching in the final step. Hydrothermal pretreatment under tailored conditions in neat water or dilute acid resulted in almost complete hemicellulose removal (80-96 wt %) in the liquid fraction. In the second step, the formed surface lignin was isolated via mild extraction while enhanced removal of both native/structural and surface lignin (71 wt %) was achieved by applying the organosolv treatment using dilute sulfuric acid as catalyst. Dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment followed by acid catalyzed organosolv pretreatment proved to be the most efficient combined approach, leading to 80 wt % hemicellulose removal as xylose monomer, and 71 wt % delignification. High crystallinity cellulose (<88%), with an overall cellulose recovery of 68-91 wt % based on native cellulose in parent biomass was isolated in the last step via bleaching of all pretreated biomass solids. The proposed integrated biorefinery procedures that aim to whole "waste" biomass valorization, replacing fossil resources, with the use of green solvents (water, ethanol) at relatively mild temperature/pressure conditions, are in line with the scope of several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, such as UN SDG 8, 11, 12, and 13.

Application of Microwave Energy to Biomass: A Comprehensive Review of Microwave-Assisted Technologies, Optimization Parameters, and the Strengths and Weaknesses

This review article focuses on the application of microwave-assisted techniques in various processes, including microwave-assisted extraction, microwave-assisted pyrolysis, microwave-assisted acid hydrolysis, microwave-assisted organosolv, and microwave-assisted hydrothermal pretreatment. This article discusses the mechanisms behind these techniques and their potential for increasing yield, producing more selectivity, and lowering reaction times while reducing energy usage. It also highlights the advantages and disadvantages of each process and emphasizes the need for further research to scale the processes and optimize conditions for industrial applications. A specific case study is presented on the pretreatment of coffee waste, demonstrating how the choice of microwave-assisted processes can lead to different by-products depending on the initial composition of the biomass.

Comparative Study of Pretreatments on Coconut Fiber for Efficient Isolation of Lignocellulosic Fractions

Pretreatment is an essential step for breaking the recalcitrant structure of lignocellulosic biomass and allowing conversion to high-value-added chemicals. In this study, coconut fiber was subjected to three pretreatment methods to compare their impacts on the biomass’s structural characteristics and their efficiency in fractionating the biomass. This comparative approach was conducted to identify mild biomass pretreatment conditions that efficiently extract lignin and recover cellulose-rich pulp for the production of bioproducts. To this end, autohydrolysis, alkaline, and organosolv pretreatments were performed under different experimental conditions, and the physicochemical properties of the samples were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and chemical characterization of the cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin fractions. Therefore, efficient experimental conditions were identified to pretreat coconut fibers with an extended understanding of the methods to process lignocellulose. Great delignification efficiency and pulp yield were obtained with organosolv &gt; alkaline extraction &gt; autohydrolysis under the selected conditions of 2 h at 185 °C in the presence of a catalyst, namely, 0.5 M NaOH, for 2 h at 55 °C and 20 min at 195 °C, respectively. FT-IR revealed a predominance of hydroxyl groups in fibers obtained from alkaline and organosolv pretreatment, showing higher lignin degradation and cellulose concentration in these samples. TGA revealed mass loss curves with similar behaviors but different patterns and intensities, and MVE analysis showed differences on the surfaces of each sample. The comparison of experimental parameters allowed the identification of suitable conditions for each extraction method, and structural analyses identified the specific characteristics of the fibers that could be obtained according to the method used. Therefore, the results are of great importance for developing sustainable and effective industrial processes.

Investigating the concomitant production of carotenoids and lipids by the yeast Rhodosporidium babjevae using sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate or corn steep liquor

The yeast Rhodosporidium babjevae was used to produce carotenoids, lipids, and fatty acids using sugarcane bagasse hydrolysates or glucose. Investigating the impact of glucose concentrations (10–150 g/L), the yeast showed the capability to yield 16.9 g/L biomass and 10.5 g/L lipids at 60 g glucose/L, while the highest pigments concentration (312 μg/g) was observed at 10 g glucose/L. Pre-treatment methods, including organosolv (ethanol 60 %(w/w)), alkali (NaOH 2 %(w/v)) and alkaline-organosolv (ethanol 60 %(w/w) and NaOH 2 %(w/v)) were used on the sugarcane bagasse following enzymatic hydrolysis. Among these, alkaline organosolv pre-treatment exhibited the most effective lignin removal of 81.9 %, releasing 46.7 g/L sugars by hydrolysis. Yeast cultivation on the enzymatic hydrolysates of alkaline organosolv pre-treatment resulted in the highest biomass (9.6 g/L) and lipids (5.0 g/L) yields. However, the highest content of pigments (280 μg/g) was achieved when the yeast was cultivated on the enzymatic hydrolysates of organosolv pre-treatment. Production of 11.3 g/L biomass, 204 μg/g pigments, and 6.7 g/L lipids established that corn steep liquor holds potential as a cheap and viable alternative to yeast extract as nitrogen source. The analysis of fatty acid composition revealed the prevalence of oleic acid and linoleic acid as dominant components.

Lignin Extracted from Rubber Seed Shell by Ultrasound-Assisted Organosolv Pretreatment

Lignin Extracted from Rubber Seed Shell by Ultrasound-Assisted Organosolv Pretreatment

Olive leaves upgrading applying a novel two-stage organosolv pretreatment: Techno-economic and environmental assessment

This research study evaluates the techno-economic and environmental performance of an olive leaves based biorefinery to produce antioxidants, bioethanol, and organosolv lignin. The biorefinery comprises processes such as organosolv extraction, organosolv pretreatment and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation, which were simulated in Aspen Plus v9.0. Experimental data were used to simulate the process, assuming a linear up-scaling. The techno-economic evaluation was carried out considering financial indicators such as net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR). The environmental assessment was done applying the life cycle assessment methodology. The results shows that 100 g olive leaves can produce 16.58 g antioxidant extract, 11.12 g organosolv lignin, and 2.85 g bioethanol. The proposed biorefinery was feasible at a processing scale of 30,000 t/y with a NPV of 47.9 million USD and an internal rate of return of 27.8%. The proposed biorefinery can be implemented in Jaén (Andalusia-Spain) based on the high amount of olive leaves produced in this region. Stillages are the most polluting waste stream of the process. The carbon footprint of the biorefinery was 1.13 kgCO2-eq/kg olive leaves. The application of the biorefinery concept revealed that olive leaves could be transformed into value-added products from a techno-economic and environmental perspective.

Efficient ethanol production from masson pine sawdust by various organosolv pretreatment and modified pre-hydrolysis simultaneous saccharification and fermentation

Pretreatment is a key step in lignocellulosic biorefinery. In this study, the combination of organosolv pretreatment and lignin repolymerization inhibitor was put forward to fractionate the lignocellulosic biomass, providing readily hydrolyzed substrate. Results showed that, acidic 1,4-butanediol pretreatment extensively removed lignin from softwood, reducing the physical blockage effect of lignin. Besides, lignin repolymerization inhibitors were employed to modify lignin, giving rise to lower unproductive binding effect of lignin. As a result, maximum 79.9 ± 0.3 % of original lignin in raw biomass could be removed, and 97.9 ± 0.5 % of glucan in pretreated solid could be converted into fermentable sugars after acidic butanediol pretreatment assisted by sodium 2-naphthol-7-sulphonate and enzymatic hydrolysis at 2 % glucan loading. Furthermore, a modified pre-hysrolysis simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process at 10 % glucan loading produced 45.6 ± 1.7 g/L ethanol, with ethanol yield of 18.7 ± 0.4 g/100 g raw biomass. Finally, the mass balance revealed that the lignocellulosic biorefinery based on acidic butanediol pretreatment assisted by sodium 2-naphthol-7-sulphonate could achieve full utilization of lignocellulosic components to co-produce ethanol, lignin materials and hemicellulose-derived mono-saccharides.

Conversion Characteristics of Chemical Constituents in Liriodendron tulipifera and Their Influences on Biomass Recalcitrance during Acid-Catalyzed Organosolv Pretreatment

Conversion Characteristics of Chemical Constituents in Liriodendron tulipifera and Their Influences on Biomass Recalcitrance during Acid-Catalyzed Organosolv Pretreatment

Enhancing the Methane Yield of Salicornia spp. via Organosolv Fractionation as Part of a Halophyte Biorefinery Concept

The present research investigated the effect of organosolv pretreatment on two species of salt-tolerant Salicornia spp. biomass, Salicornia dolichostachya and Salicornia ramosissima, for increasing biomethane production through anaerobic digestion. The final biomethane yield of de-juiced green fibers of Salicornia spp. from wet fractionation increased by 23–28% after organosolv treatment. The highest methane yield of about 300 mL-CH4/gVS was found after organosolv treatment with 60% v/v ethanol solution at 200 °C for 30 min, or at 180 °C for 30 or 60 min treatment time. Furthermore, the methane production rate increased significantly, reducing the time until 95% of the final methane yield was reached from 20 days to 6–10 days for the organosolv-treated biomass. This research shows that the process of anaerobic digestion of halophyte biomass benefits from cascade processing of Salicornia fibers in a biorefinery framework by sequential wet and organosolv fractionation for full utilization of halophytic biomass.

Microporous and Mesoporous Activated Carbons from Tea Stalk and Tea Stalk Pulps: Effect of Lignin Removal by One-Step and Two-Step Organosolv Treatment

Delignification is a crucial pretreatment in the production of diverse value-added products from lignocellulosics. While modifying the surface functional groups, delignification also increases the specific surface area by providing a porous structure to the lignocellulosic biomass. Hydrothermal pretreatment can be used prior to delignification, to recover hemicellulose and boost delignification. By removing lignin and hemicellulose, cellulose-rich pulp becomes more accessible for activation. In the present study, three different activated carbons were prepared: activated carbon from tea stalk itself (ATS), activated carbon from tea stalk pulp obtained by using glycerol organosolv pretreatment (ATP), activated carbon from tea stalk hydrochar pulp obtained by using sequential hydrothermal pretreatment-organosolv delignification (AHTP). Each precursor was carbonized (at 800 °C) in the presence of KOH (KOH/precursor: 2/1). Activated carbons were characterized for their elemental content, surface functional groups, thermal stability, crystallinity, surface morphology, surface area and porous structure using elemental analysis (C-H-N-S), FTIR, TGA, XRD, SEM and, BET analysis, respectively. While hydrothermal pretreatment prior to organosolv pulping reduced the delignification yield, it also altered the pore structure of activated carbon. Among the activated carbons, only ATS had microporous structure with an average pore radius of 1 nm. ATP had the highest surface area (2056.72 m2/g) and micropore volume (0.81 cm3/g). Having mesopores (with an average pore radius of 5.74 nm) in its structure, AHTP had the least micropore volume (0.464 cm3/g) and surface area (1179.71 m2/g). The presence of micro and mesopores broadens the potential applications of activated carbon ranging from environmental applications to energy storage.

Investigation of Microwave Irradiation and Ethanol Pre-Treatment toward Bioproducts Fractionation from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch

Lignocellulosic biomass (LCB), such as the oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB), has emerged as one of the sustainable alternative renewable bioresources in retrieving valuable bioproducts, such as lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose. The natural recalcitrance of LCB by the disarray of lignin is overcome through the combinative application of organosolv pre-treatment followed by microwave irradiation, which helps to break down LCB into its respective components. This physicochemical treatment process was conducted to evaluate the effect of ethanol solvent, microwave power, and microwave duration against delignification and the total sugar yield. The highest delignification rate was achieved, and the optimum level of total sugars was obtained, with the smallest amount of lignin left in the OPEFB sample at 0.57% and total sugars at 87.8 mg/L, respectively. This was observed for the OPEFB samples pre-treated with 55 vol% of ethanol subjected to a reaction time of 90 min and a microwave power of 520 W. Microwave irradiation functions were used to increase the temperature of the ethanol organic solvent, which in turn helped to break the protective lignin layer of OPEFB. On the other hand, the surface morphology supported this finding, where OPEFB samples pre-treated with 55 vol% of solvent subjected to similar microwave duration and power were observed to have higher opened and deepened surface structures. Consequently, higher thermal degradation can lead to more lignin being removed in order to expose and extract the total sugars. Therefore, it can be concluded that organosolv pre-treatment in combination with microwave irradiation can serve as a novel integrated method to optimize the total sugar yield synthesized from OPEFB.

Investigation of Microwave-Assisted Ethanol Pre-Treatment Towards Delignification Efficiency of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch

Lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) such as the oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) has emerged as one of the sustainable alternative renewable bio-resources in retrieving the valuable bioproducts such as lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose. The natural recalcitrance of LCB by the disarray of lignin is overcome through the combinative application of organosolv pre-treatment followed by microwave irradiation, which helps to break down LCB into its respective components. This physicochemical treatment process was conducted to evaluate the effect of ethanol solvent, microwave power and duration against delignification and the total sugars yield. The highest delignification rate was obtained with lowest amount of lignin left in OPEFB sample of 0.57% for samples pre-treated with ethanol, subjected to reaction time of 90 minutes and microwave power of 520 W. Microwave power functions to increase the temperature of the ethanol organic solvent utilized, which in turn helps break the protective lignin layer of OPEFB. On the other hand, the data on surface morphology supports this data finding, where OPEFB samples pre-treated with 55 vol% of solvent subjected to similar microwave duration and power is observed to have higher opened and deepened surface structure, in which higher thermal degradation lead to more lignin being removed in order to expose and extract the total sugars. Therefore, it can be concluded that ethanol pre-treatment in combination with microwave irradiation can serve as a novel integrated method to optimize the delignification process from OPEFB.

Dual assistance of surfactants in glycerol organosolv pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass for bioethanol production

This study investigated an innovative strategy of incorporating surfactants into alkaline-catalyzed glycerol pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis to improve lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) conversion efficiency. Results revealed that adding 40 mg/g PEG 4000 to the pretreatment at 195 °C obtained the highest glucose yield (84.6%). This yield was comparable to that achieved without surfactants at a higher temperature (240 °C), indicating a reduction of 18.8% in the required heat input. Subsequently, Triton X-100 addition during enzymatic hydrolysis of PEG 4000-assisted pretreated substrate increased glucose yields to 92.1% at 6 FPU/g enzyme loading. High-solid fed-batch semi-simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation using this dual surfactant strategy gave 56.4 g/L ethanol and a positive net energy gain of 1.4 MJ/kg. Significantly, dual assistance with surfactants rendered 56.3% enzyme cost savings compared to controls without surfactants. Therefore, the proposed surfactant dual-assisted promising approach opens the gateway to economically viable enzyme-mediated LCB biorefinery.

Sustainability and life cycle analyzes of different biofuel from municipal solid waste processes: an effective environmental guidance

Abstract The refining of biowaste into biofuels, particularly focusing on the organic fraction-municipal solid waste (OF-MSW), remains nascent and is influenced by factors such as energy requirements, microbial effectiveness, and structural design. This article presents a sustainable and thorough framework for evaluating the environmental behavior associated with diverse biofuel from OF-MSW conversion methodologies. The evaluation considers three different pre-treatment methods (acetone organosolv, hot water, and acidic pre-treatment), several fermentation techniques (including ethanol fermentation and ABE-F (acetone/butanol/ethanol fermentation)), and acidic or enzymatic hydrolysis approaches. Furthermore, the environmental analysis utilizes the life cycle analysis (LCA) approach. Within this framework, a consequential LCA is implemented, which includes process development to address the issue of multi-functionality and the use of marginal processes for designing foundational processes. The biofuels produced, ethanol and butanol, are analyzed for their environmental impact. To discern the varying and combined effects, methodologies for sensitivity analysis and single score evaluations have been established. Research outcomes suggest that the acetone–ethanol–butanol fermentation scenario does not provide an optimal environmental outcome due to its inability to offset the environmental impacts through the benefits derived from the byproducts. Among the scenarios examined, Scenario SC-IV emerged as the most environmentally beneficial, showing significant net environmental savings including decrements of −854.55 PDF m−2 (potentially disappeared fraction, annually), −253.74 kg CO2.eq per 1000 kg of OF-MSW, and − 3290 MJ per 1000 kg of OF-MSW treated.

Double in-situ lignin modification in surfactant-assisted glycerol organosolv pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse towards efficient enzymatic hydrolysis

Organosolv pretreatment effectively fractionates lignocellulosic biomass for efficient enzymatic hydrolysis, yielding fermentable sugars. However, substantial lignin redeposition on the substrate surface and residual lignin content exacerbate lignin’s inhibitory effects on subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. An in-situ lignin modification is proposed to address this challenge by incorporating polyethylene glycol (PEG) series into glycerol organosolv (GO) pretreatment. According to the results obtained, PEG-assisted GO pretreated substrate exhibited significantly increased sugar yield during enzymatic hydrolysis, particularly with PEG 4000, showing 35.4% higher glucose yield over 72 h. The improved glucose yield with PEG could be attributed to changes in the physicochemical structure and properties of residual lignin, mitigating its non-productive interaction with cellulase enzymes. PEG's presence in GO pretreatment also increased β-O-4 linkages preservation by 55% and reduced phenolic hydroxyl groups by 28% in lignin fragments versus no surfactants. This outcome resulted from introducing glycerol and PEG hydroxyl tails into the lignin structure, forming α-etherified lignin and rendering it more hydrophilic. Simulations confirmed strong Van Der Waals and hydrogen bonding interactions between lignin units and PEG, hindering lignin fragments repolymerization. Incorporating PEG in the organosolv pretreatment proves highly beneficial for cellulase-mediated lignocellulosic biorefinery, resembling a lignin-first strategy. The optimized process enables efficient biomass utilization for sustainable fuels and chemicals production.

Unraveling the secrets of harnessing a surfactant-modified strategy in organosolv pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for efficient fermentable sugar production

Alkaline-catalyzed organosolv pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass affords excellent delignification, yielding a holocellulose-rich substrate for fermentable sugar production.