Pretreatment with concurrent UV photocatalysis and alkaline H2O2 enhanced the enzymatic hydrolysis of sisal waste

This work studied a concurrent UV photocatalysis and alkaline H2O2 pretreatment (UHP) to enhance the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis of sisal waste in comparison with alkaline H2O2 pretreatment (AHP). An optimal condition was identified for UHP at H2O2 charge 0.1 g/g dried sisal waste, pH 10.0, and UV radiation for 6 h. Under this condition, UHP led to a delignification rate of 76.6%, a conversion to reducing sugar at 71.2%, and a conversion to glucose at 91.6%, respectively. XRD, FT-IR and SEM analysis showed an increase in crystalline degree and significant changes in the structure of sisal during UHP. The current study implicates that UHP is more efficient than AHP in pretreating sisal waste, with reduced H2O2 charge, shortened pretreatment time, and enhanced enzymatic digestibility.