Enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose and the use of TiO₂ nanoparticles to open up the cellulose structure
A major barrier in the process of cellulose enzymatic hydrolysis into glucose for biofuel production is the enzyme accessibility to cellulose. In this study, a new cellulose regeneration strategy is developed to address this problem. In this strategy, cellulose is dissolved and then regenerated in a...
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Published in | Biomass & bioenergy Vol. 35; no. 9; pp. 3970 - 3975 |
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Main Authors | , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Kidlington
Elsevier Ltd
01.10.2011
Elsevier |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | A major barrier in the process of cellulose enzymatic hydrolysis into glucose for biofuel production is the enzyme accessibility to cellulose. In this study, a new cellulose regeneration strategy is developed to address this problem. In this strategy, cellulose is dissolved and then regenerated in a networked form. The networked cellulose (NC) was prepared with a high yield via 70% sulfuric acid dissolution of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) followed by regeneration with ethanol. The material was studied as a possible and easily accessible source of glucose. Washed, dialyzed and freeze-dried NC samples were enzymatically hydrolyzed to glucose. The networked cellulose showed improved enzymatic hydrolysis rate compared to microcrystalline cellulose. With enzyme concentration of 2mg/mL, the networked cellulose had conversion of 72.8% (wt%) into glucose compared to 33.7% for untreated microcrystalline cellulose. To further increase the enzymatic accessibility, NC was co-regenerated in the presence of TiO₂ nanoparticles. SEM images revealed that TiO₂ particles helped in opening up cellulose structure through the co-regeneration process. Different NC-TiO₂ materials were prepared with different TiO₂ percentages. The measured rates of hydrolysis showed that TiO₂ inclusion significantly improved the enzymatic hydrolysis, especially at a 50mg/mL TiO₂ concentration. 92.3% conversion of cellulose to glucose was achieved. |
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Bibliography: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2011.06.004 |
ISSN: | 0961-9534 1873-2909 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.biombioe.2011.06.004 |