Reducing lignin condensation and enhancing enzymatic hydrolysis of wheat straw by low-concentration p-toluenesulfonic acid pretreatment assisted with polyethylene glycol

IF 13.3 1区工程技术 Q1 ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL

Chemical Engineering Journal Pub Date : 2025-03-28 DOI:10.1016/j.cej.2025.162012

Junjie Hao, Haifeng Chen, Chaoqing Zhang, Hailong Li, Xuefang Chen, Zhen Xiong, Can Wang, Haijun Guo, Hairong Zhang, Lian Xiong, Sansan Yu, Xinde Chen

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Abstract

Condensed lignin produced during dilute acid pretreatment is the main cause of low cellulose conversion and high enzyme dosage. In this study, polyethylene glycol (PEG) assisted low-concentration p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TsOH) pretreatment for reducing lignin condensation and enhancing enzymatic hydrolysis of wheat straw was investigated. In addition, the structure of lignin in wheat straw before and after pretreatment was systematically characterized. The results indicated that the cellulose conversion of pretreated wheat straw was significantly improved. Under the optimized conditions (0.5 % PEG6000 and 1 % p-TsOH), the cellulose conversion of pretreated wheat straw increased by 41.03 % and the enzyme loading decreased by 70 %. The cellulose conversion of pretreated wheat straw reached 95.15 % when the enzyme loading was only 7.5 mg/g (3.39 FPU/g). The lignin characterization revealed that the β-O-4 structure in lignin was protected by the PEG, which was incorporated into the β-O-4 structure and formed etherified lignin with many hydroxyl tails. Thus, the increase in cellulose conversion is attributed to the fact that the lignin condensation was inhibited by PEG, which reduced the non-productive adsorption of enzyme. p-TsOH and PEG showed significant synergistic effects for the improvement of cellulose conversion. In summary, PEG assisted low-concentration p-TsOH pretreatment can effectively prevent lignin condensation and improve enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency.

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来源期刊

Chemical Engineering Journal 工程技术-工程：化工

CiteScore

21.70

自引率

9.30%

发文量

6781

审稿时长

2.4 months

期刊介绍： The Chemical Engineering Journal is an international research journal that invites contributions of original and novel fundamental research. It aims to provide an international platform for presenting original fundamental research, interpretative reviews, and discussions on new developments in chemical engineering. The journal welcomes papers that describe novel theory and its practical application, as well as those that demonstrate the transfer of techniques from other disciplines. It also welcomes reports on carefully conducted experimental work that is soundly interpreted. The main focus of the journal is on original and rigorous research results that have broad significance. The Catalysis section within the Chemical Engineering Journal focuses specifically on Experimental and Theoretical studies in the fields of heterogeneous catalysis, molecular catalysis, and biocatalysis. These studies have industrial impact on various sectors such as chemicals, energy, materials, foods, healthcare, and environmental protection.