ABSTRACTDeep eutectic solvent (DES) has been identified as a potential green solvent in biomass processing. In the present investigation, a deep eutectic solvent i.e. choline chloride: urea (ChCl/U) was synthesized and employed to pretreat rice husks. Plackett- Burman response surface methodology was used to optimize the factors which are DES molar ratio, residence time, temperature, and biomass concentration. A total of 11 experimental conditions were evaluated and the highest amount of reducing sugar was obtained when 2 g rice husk was pretreated with 1:2 ChCl/U at 80°C for 6 h i.e. 0.67 ± 0.05 mg/mL. Furthermore, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies were used to characterize the structural and compositional changes in which DES demonstrates a great performance in the pretreatment of rice husk by eliminating amorphous lignin and hemicellulose content. Therefore, the facile process used in this study has the potential to be used on a massive scale to produce fermentable sugars and other compounds.
Keywords: Plackett-Burman design; Pretreatment; deep eutectic solvent; reducing sugar; response surface methodology.