Volume 23: Sustainable Energy Solutions for a Post-COVID Recovery towards a Better Future: Part VI

Bionic two stage microreactor loaded with enzymes for hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass Kai Lin, Ao Xia, Yun Huang, Xianqing Zhu, Xun Zhu, Kaiyong Cai, Zidong Wei, Qiang Liao

Abstract

Clean and efficient biofuels sourced from lignocellulosic biomass can play a significant role in achieving carbon neutrality. Enzymatic hydrolysis is regarded as the key step in this process. In this study, inspired by the termite gut, a two-stage microreactor loaded with enzymes was proposed for the efficient conversion of wheat straw to produce sugar. The two-stage microreactor is composed of the sections loaded with xylanase and cellulase mixture orderly. After being reacted in the microreactor loaded with xylanase for 24 h, 17.1% of xylan was removed, thus producing xylose while increasing the accessibility of cellulose. Compared with wheat straw without catalysis by xylanase, the initial adsorption rate of methylene blue on wheat straw pretreated by xylanase for 24 h was increased by 13.7%, and the maximum adsorption capacity was increased by 8.1%. Furthermore, after being catalyzed in the first stage by xylanase for 6-24 h, the glucose production in the second stage within 6 h was increased by 23.9-89.7%. In the two-stage microreactor, the conversion of cellulose reached 13.7% in 24 h at a low enzyme input of 7 FPU g-1 biomass. The xylan conversion reached 47.1% in 36 h. Considering enzyme reusability and enhancement of cellulose conversion, the two-stage microreactor can be used for the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass.

Keywords two-stage microreactor, enzymatic hydrolysis, wheat straw, immobilization, bionic system