Improving Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Corn Stover Pretreated by Ethylene Glycol-Perchloric Acid-Water Mixture

• DOI: 10.1007/s12010-014-1353-9
• Publication Date: 2014-11-14T14:38:40Z
• Authors: Yu-Cai He; Feng Liu; Lei Gong; Ting Lu; Yun Ding; Dan-Ping Zhang; Qing Qing; Yue Zhang
• Keywords: Corn stover; Lignocellulosic Biomass; Enzymatic Hydrolysis; Cellulosic ethanol

To improve the enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass, a mixture of ethylene glycol-HClO4-water (88.8:1.2:10, w/w/w) was used for pretreating corn stover in this study. After the optimization in oil-bath system, the optimum pretreatment temperature and time were 130 °C and 30 min, respectively. After the saccharification of 10 g/L pretreated corn stover for 48 h, the saccharification rate was obtained in the yield of 77.4 %. To decrease pretreatment temperature and shorten pretreatment time, ethylene glycol-HClO4-water (88.8:1.2:10, w/w/w) media under microwave irradiation was employed to pretreat corn stover effectively at 100 °C and 200 W for 5 min. Finally, the recovered hydrolyzates containing glucose obtained from the enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated corn stovers could be fermented into ethanol efficiently. These results would be helpful for developing a cost-effective pretreatment combined with enzymatic saccharification of cellulosic materials for the production of lignocellulosic ethanol.