Enhanced Rate of Enzymatic Saccharification with the Ionic Liquid Treatment of Corn Straw Activated by Metal Ion Solution

The aim of this paper was to effectively reduce environmental pollution and further improve the enzymatic hydrolysis rate of corn straw. Thus, a pretreatment method for activating cellulose by using ionic liquid to treat metal ion solution was developed. By investigating the effects of the three factors of substrate mass fraction, reaction temperature, and reaction time, and the interaction between the factors on the pretreatment effect, the response surface design method was used to optimize the conditions of ionic liquid (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride) treatment of corn straw after activation, and the physicochemical structure and enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency before and after treatment were compared and analyzed. The experimental results showed that the yield of reducing sugar was increased by 157.85% and 150.41%, respectively, compared with the untreated corn straw. The analysis of chemical composition and structure showed that the cellulose content of the material increased significantly by 68.11% and 60.54%, respectively, after ionic liquid treatment. The results of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation and X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that the relative crystallinity of the material decreased after ionic liquid treatment, which was more conducive to the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose.

Automated summary

The aim of this study was to reduce environmental pollution and improve the enzymatic hydrolysis rate of corn straw. A pretreatment method using ionic liquid to treat metal ion solution was developed. The conditions of ionic liquid treatment were optimized using the response surface design method. The results showed increased yield of reducing sugar and cellulose content, indicating improved enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency of corn straw after ionic liquid treatment.