TY - JOUR

T1 - Production of cellulose nanofibers and sugars using high dry matter feedstock

AU - Moulin, Jordão Cabral

AU - Soares Duraes, Alisson Farley

AU - Jørgensen, Henning

AU - Moreira, Francys K.

AU - Sanadi, Anand Ramesh

AU - Denzin Tonoli, Gustavo Henrique

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Sugars are a sustainable platform for producing chemicals and polymers, while cellulose nanofibers (CNF) are sustainable materials with high specific mechanical properties that have an important role to play in many applications. This study highlights the feasibility of producing sugars and CNF using high dry matter (DM) content of 20 %. A commercial enzyme cocktail at low dosage, 5 mg EP/g DM, and a high 15 mg EP/g DM, were used to hydrolyze the pulp cellulose to produce sugars and CNF. HPLC was used to evaluate the cellulose conversion rate and amount of sugar realized. The CNF were studied using TEM, the diameter of the CNF were measured and estimate the crystallinity. The cellulose conversion plateaued at about 48 h for both the low and high dosage, indicating inhibition due to higher sugar concentration and/or increased recalcitrance of the remaining CNF. The CNF obtained at low enzyme indicated the fibrils were insufficiently separated. At the high dosage, less clumps were observed and with smaller diameter than with the low enzyme dosage. The high dosage also produced CNF with significantly higher crystallinity index, confirming that amorphous cellulose portions readily underwent enzymatic hydrolysis and left more recalcitrant CNF.

AB - Sugars are a sustainable platform for producing chemicals and polymers, while cellulose nanofibers (CNF) are sustainable materials with high specific mechanical properties that have an important role to play in many applications. This study highlights the feasibility of producing sugars and CNF using high dry matter (DM) content of 20 %. A commercial enzyme cocktail at low dosage, 5 mg EP/g DM, and a high 15 mg EP/g DM, were used to hydrolyze the pulp cellulose to produce sugars and CNF. HPLC was used to evaluate the cellulose conversion rate and amount of sugar realized. The CNF were studied using TEM, the diameter of the CNF were measured and estimate the crystallinity. The cellulose conversion plateaued at about 48 h for both the low and high dosage, indicating inhibition due to higher sugar concentration and/or increased recalcitrance of the remaining CNF. The CNF obtained at low enzyme indicated the fibrils were insufficiently separated. At the high dosage, less clumps were observed and with smaller diameter than with the low enzyme dosage. The high dosage also produced CNF with significantly higher crystallinity index, confirming that amorphous cellulose portions readily underwent enzymatic hydrolysis and left more recalcitrant CNF.

KW - biorefinery

KW - cellulose deconstruction

KW - nanocellulose

KW - ENZYMATIC-HYDROLYSIS

KW - LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOMASS

KW - AQUEOUS-MEDIA

KW - CONVERSION

KW - PRETREATMENT

KW - DEHYDRATION

KW - BIOETHANOL

KW - CHEMICALS

KW - ETHANOL

KW - ENZYMES

U2 - 10.1515/npprj-2022-0041

DO - 10.1515/npprj-2022-0041

M3 - Journal article

VL - 37

SP - 507

EP - 516

JO - Nordic Pulp and Paper Research Journal

JF - Nordic Pulp and Paper Research Journal

SN - 0283-2631

IS - 3

ER -