title: Enhanced glucose yield and structural characterization of corn stover by sodium carbonate pretreatment.
abstract: Na2CO3 was employed as an efficient yet cheap alkaline catalyst for the pretreatment of corn stover. To systematically obtain an optimal condition, the effects of critical pretreatment parameters including Na2CO3 concentration (2-6%), temperature (120-160 °C), and reaction time (10-30 min) on glucose yield were evaluated in lab-scale using response surface methodology. The best conditions were found to be Na2CO3 of 4.1%, temperature of 142.6 °C, and reaction time of 18.0 min, under which glucose yield reached to 267.5 g/kg biomass. Physical properties, based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imagery, surface area, pore volume and size, and crystallinity of pretreated corn stover, were examined. The Na2CO3 pretreatment apparently damaged the surface and altered structural features of corn stover, which resulted in the enhancement of enzymatic of hydrolysis. These results evidently support that Na2CO3 is indeed a robust and feasible catalyst for pretreating lignocellulosic biomass.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, KAIST, 373-1 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ilgook
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, KAIST, 373-1 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Muhammad Saif Ur
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Rehman
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, KAIST, 373-1 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: jihan@kaist.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jong-In
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D002254:Carbonates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006868:Hydrolysis / Q000187:drug effects; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014866:Waste Products; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction; D003313:Zea mays / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002254:Carbonates; D014866:Waste Products; C005686:sodium carbonate; D005947:Glucose
keywords: Corn stover; Enzymatic hydrolysis; Na(2)CO(3) pretreatment; Structural characterization