title: Structural and chemical characterization of hardwood from tree species with applications as bioenergy feedstocks.
abstract: Eucalypt species are a group of flowering trees widely used in pulp production for paper manufacture. For several decades, the wood pulp industry has focused research and development efforts on improving yields, growth rates and pulp quality through breeding and the genetic improvement of key tree species. Recently, this focus has shifted from the production of high quality pulps to the investigation of the use of eucalypts as feedstocks for biofuel production. Here the structure and chemical composition of the heartwood and sapwood of Eucalyptus dunnii, E. globulus, E. pillularis, E. urophylla, an E. urophylla-E. grandis cross, Corymbia citriodora ssp. variegata, and Acacia mangium were compared using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and biochemical composition analysis. Some trends relating to these compositions were also identified by Fourier transform near infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy. These results will serve as a foundation for a more comprehensive database of wood properties that will help develop criteria for the selection of tree species for use as biorefinery feedstocks.
authors.affiliation: Joint BioEnergy Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Özgül Persil
authors.initials: ÖP
authors.lastname: Cetinkol
authors.forename: Andreia M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Smith-Moritz
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Jeemeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lao
authors.forename: Anthe
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: George
authors.forename: Kunlun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.forename: Blake A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.forename: Joshua L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Heazlewood
authors.forename: Bradley M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Holmes
mesh_terms: D000045:Acacia / Q000737:chemistry; D056804:Biofuels; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000737:chemistry; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D005052:Eucalyptus / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000166:cytology; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008031:Lignin / Q000737:chemistry; D009005:Monosaccharides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D014197:Trees; D014934:Wood / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000166:cytology; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D009005:Monosaccharides; D011134:Polysaccharides; D008031:Lignin