Deep eutectic solvent and inorganic salt pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for improving xylose recovery

Yu-Loong Loow; Ta Yeong Wu; Ge Hoa Yang; Lin Yang Ang; Eng Kein New; Lee Fong Siow; Jamaliah Md Jahim; Abdul Wahab Mohammad; Wen Hui Teoh

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2017.07.165

Deep eutectic solvent and inorganic salt pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for improving xylose recovery

Bioresour Technol. 2018 Feb:249:818-825. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.07.165. Epub 2017 Jul 29.

Authors

Yu-Loong Loow¹, Ta Yeong Wu², Ge Hoa Yang³, Lin Yang Ang¹, Eng Kein New³, Lee Fong Siow⁴, Jamaliah Md Jahim⁵, Abdul Wahab Mohammad⁵, Wen Hui Teoh⁶

Affiliations

¹ Chemical Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, Monash University, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
² Chemical Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, Monash University, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Chemical Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, Monash University, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia; Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), School of Engineering, Monash University, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
⁴ School of Science, Monash University, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
⁵ Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
⁶ Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

PMID: 29136937
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.07.165

Abstract

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have received considerable attention in recent years due to their low cost, low toxicity, and biodegradable properties. In this study, a sequential pretreatment comprising of a DES (choline chloride:urea in a ratio of 1:2) and divalent inorganic salt (CuCl₂) was evaluated, with the aim of recovering xylose from oil palm fronds (OPF). At a solid-to-liquid ratio of 1:10 (w/v), DES alone was ineffective in promoting xylose extraction from OPF. However, a combination of DES (120°C, 4h) and 0.4mol/L of CuCl₂ (120°C, 30min) resulted in a pretreatment hydrolysate containing 14.76g/L of xylose, remarkably yielding 25% more xylose than the CuCl₂-only pretreatment (11.87g/L). Characterization studies such as FE-SEM, BET, XRD, and FTIR confirmed the delignification of OPF when DES was implemented. Thus, the use of this integrated pretreatment system enabled xylose recoveries which were comparable with other traditional pretreatments.

Keywords: Biomass valorization; Biorefinery; Green solvent; Hemicellulose; Lignin; Oil palm fronds.

MeSH terms

Biomass
Lignin
Sodium Chloride
Solvents
Xylose*

Substances

Solvents
Sodium Chloride
Lignin
Xylose