A novel mineral-acid free biphasic deep eutectic solvent/γ-valerolactone system for furfural production and boosting the enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass

Jinyuan Cheng; Chen Huang; Yunni Zhan; Xuze Liu; Jia Wang; Caoxing Huang; Guigan Fang; Arthur J Ragauskas; Zhanghong Xie; Xianzhi Meng

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129653

A novel mineral-acid free biphasic deep eutectic solvent/γ-valerolactone system for furfural production and boosting the enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass

Bioresour Technol. 2023 Nov:387:129653. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129653. Epub 2023 Aug 11.

Authors

Jinyuan Cheng¹, Chen Huang², Yunni Zhan¹, Xuze Liu¹, Jia Wang³, Caoxing Huang³, Guigan Fang⁴, Arthur J Ragauskas⁵, Zhanghong Xie⁶, Xianzhi Meng⁷

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Chemical Industry of Forest Products, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Materials, Nanjing 210042, China.
² Institute of Chemical Industry of Forest Products, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Materials, Nanjing 210042, China; Co-Innovation Center for Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China. Electronic address: huangchen3127@njfu.edu.cn.
³ Co-Innovation Center for Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
⁴ Institute of Chemical Industry of Forest Products, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Materials, Nanjing 210042, China; Co-Innovation Center for Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
⁵ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA; Department of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries, Center for Renewable Carbon, The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA; Joint Institute for Biological Science, Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.
⁶ Yibin Paper Industry Co., LTD, YiBin City 644109, China.
⁷ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.

PMID: 37573979
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129653

Abstract

The failure of hemicellulose valorization in a deep eutectic solvent (DES) pretreatment has become a bottleneck that challenges its further development. To address this issue, this study developed a DES/GVL (γ-valerolactone) biphasic system for effective hemicellulose-furfural conversion, enhanced cellulose saccharification and lignin isolation. The results indicated that the biphasic system could significantly improve the lignin removal (as high as 89.1%), 86.0% higher than the monophasic DES, accompanied by ∼100% hemicellulose degradation. Notably, the GVL in the biphasic solvent restricted the condensation of hemicellulose degradation products, which as a result generated large amount of furfural in the pretreatment liquid with a yield of 68.6%. With the removal of hemicellulose and lignin, cellulose enzymatic hydrolysis yield was boosted and reached near 100%. This study highlighted that the novel DES/GVL is capable of fractionating the biomass and benefiting their individual utilization, which could provide a new biorefinery configuration for a DES pretreatment.

Keywords: Biphasic solvent; Furfural production; Lignin removal; Pretreatment.

MeSH terms

Biomass
Cellulose
Deep Eutectic Solvents
Furaldehyde*
Hydrolysis
Lignin* / metabolism
Minerals
Solvents

Substances

lignocellulose
Lignin
Furaldehyde
gamma-valerolactone
Deep Eutectic Solvents
Solvents
Cellulose
Minerals