An efficient strategy was developed in current work for biochemical conversion of carbohydrates of corn stover into monosaccharides. Corn stover was first presoaked in mild alkaline solution (1% Na2S) under 40°C for 4h, after which about 35.3% of the lignin was successfully removed while the specific surface area was notably enlarged. Then the presoaked solids were subjected to organosolv pretreatment that employed 20% methanol with an addition of 0.2% HCl as catalyst at 160°C for 20min, and the maximum total sugar yield of the pretreated corn stover achieved was 98.6%. The intact structure of corn stover was disrupted by this two-step process, which resulted in a porous but crystalline structure of the regenerated solids that were mainly composed of cellulose. The enlarged specific surface area and increased accessibility made the regenerated solids highly digestible by a moderate enzyme loading.
Keywords: Alkaline presoaking; Corn stover; Digestibility; Organosolv pretreatment; Saccharification.
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