Effect of Ultrasonic Waves on the Saccharification Processes of Lignocellulose

The pretreatment and saccharification process of lignocellulose were subjected to ultrasonic waves to enhance the saccharification rate. The morphology, structure and crystal performance of the original and treated lignocellulose samples were characterized by SEM and FTIR. Moreover, the effect of different pretreatment methods on the structure of the raw materials and the influence of ultrasonic waves on the saccharification rate, were studied. SEM photographs show that the surface conformation of the granulated raw material is not changed, because the energy of the ultrasonic vibration is too low to cause changes to its structure. A FTIR spectrum shows that the ultrasonically assisted alkali pretreatment effectively destroys the intermolecular hydrogen bonding of lignocellulose and decreases its crystallinity. The catalytic efficiency of cellulase was increased by 70% under ultrasonic treatment. Therefore, the ultrasonically assisted alkali pretreatment can improves the degradation rate of lignin and the saccharification rate of zymohydrolysis. The mechanism of the effect of ultrasonic waves on the enzymatic catalysis process is also discussed in detail.