Differentiated Fractionation of Various Biomass Resources by p-Toluenesulfonic Acid at Mild Conditions

Biomass is the ideal substitute for petrochemical resourcesbecauseof its renewable and abundant sources. p-Toluenesulfonicacid (p-TsOH) can effectively separate lignin frombiomass under mild conditions, so it is highly expected in biomassfractionation to improve the utilization efficiency. In this study,we investigated the effect of p-TsOH differentiatedfractionation of poplar sawdust, eucalyptus sawdust, and rice strawbelow 100 & DEG;C. According to the experimental results, upon pretreatmentby p-TsOH of the three kinds of raw biomass, mostof the lignin and hemicellulose of poplar sawdust and eucalyptus sawdustwere removed, whereas the cellulose was retained, but most of thehemicellulose and cellulose of rice straw were kept, whereas the ligninwas removed at similar conditions. The structures and compositionsof pretreatment residues, lignin, and hemicellulose extracted fromraw biomass were characterized by XRD, FTIR, HSQC-NMR, XPS, and SEM.The differentiated fractionation mechanism of biomass was analyzed.A better recognition and understanding of the factors affecting biomatrixopening and fractionation will allow for the identification of newpretreatment strategies that improve biomass utilization and permitthe rational enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose.

Automated summary

The effect of p-TsOH differentiated fractionation of poplar sawdust, eucalyptus sawdust, and rice straw below 100°C was investigated. The results showed that p-TsOH can effectively remove most lignin and hemicellulose from poplar and eucalyptus sawdust, while retaining cellulose. For rice straw, p-TsOH removed most lignin but retained most hemicellulose and cellulose under similar conditions. The structures and compositions of the pretreatment residues were characterized, and the fractionation mechanism of biomass was analyzed.