Ultrafast alkaline deep eutectic solvent pretreatment for enhancing enzymatic saccharification and lignin fractionation from industrial xylose residue

An aspirational pretreatment method for efficient fractionation and tailored valorization of large industrial biomass can ensure the realizability of sustainable biorefinery strategies. In this study, an ultrafast alkaline deep eutectic solvents (DES) pretreatment strategy was developed to efficiently extract the lignin nanoparticles and retain cellulose residues that could be readily enzymatic saccharified to obtain fermentative glucose for the bioenergy production from industrial xylose residue. Results showed that the DES pretreatment had excellent delignification performance and the regenerated DES lignin nanoparticles exhibited well-preserved structures and excellent antioxidant activity, as well as low molecular weights and relatively uniform size distribution, which could facilitate downstream catalytic degradation for production of chemicals and preparation of lignin based materials. Under the optimal condition (DES pretreatment: 80 degrees C, 10 min; saccharification: 10 FPU/g, 5 wt %, 100 mg/g Tween 80), the glucose yield of 90.12% could be achieved, which was dramatically increased compared to raw materials.

Automated summary

This study developed an ultrafast alkaline deep eutectic solvents (DES) pretreatment strategy to efficiently extract lignin nanoparticles and retain cellulose residues for the production of fermentative glucose. The DES pretreatment showed excellent delignification performance and the regenerated DES lignin nanoparticles exhibited well-preserved structures and antioxidant activity, making them suitable for the production of chemicals and lignin-based materials.