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Valorization of Lignocellulosic Biomass
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Valorization of Lignocellulosic Biomass

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 November 2024) | Viewed by 9566

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Haishun Du

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706-1544, USA
Interests: lignocellulosic biomass valorization; cellulose nanomaterials; conducting polymers; conductive nanocomposites; wearable electronics; energy storage; energy harvesting; supercapacitors; sensors; biomedicine
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Sonali Mohapatra

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706-1544, USA
Interests: microbial genetics for production of prebiotics; production of value-added products from fermented grass biomass; bioethanol production from starchy and lignocellulosic materials; metabolomics for development of industrial strains in bioethanol production; production of hydrocarbons from lignocellulosic biomass
Prof. Dr. Xuejun Pan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI 53706-1544, USA
Interests: pretreatment and fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass; enzymatic and chemical saccharification of lignocellulose to produce sugars; chemical and biological conversion of lignocellulose to liquid fuels; platform chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass; functionalized materials from cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin; fundamental understanding of physical and chemical changes of plant cell wall components (cellulose, lignin, and hemicelluloses) during biorefining

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The increasing environmental and sustainable concerns and issues caused by fossil-based products (fuels, chemicals, and plastics) and related hazardous industrial wastes have imposed an immediate consideration of alternatives for non-renewable fossil resources. Lignocellulosic biomass, the most abundant sustainable carbon source on the planet, has been considered an alternative to fossil resources because of its abundance (produced annually approx. 200 billion metric tons), non-toxicity, renewability, and biodegradability. In addition, the utilization of lignocellulose does not emit net carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is crucial to achieving carbon neutrality and sustainable development. In recent years, a great amount of effort has been made to convert lignocellulosic biomass to biofuels, chemicals, and functional materials through the biorefining concept. This Special Issue is aimed at presenting the state-of-the-art in the valorization of lignocellulosic biomass to value-added bioproducts. We invite authors to contribute their latest works in the form of original research and review articles. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  1. Biomass pretreatment and fractionation technologies
  2. Enzymatic saccharification and fermentation of biomass
  3. Catalytic conversion of biomass to biofuels and chemicals
  4. Biomass gasification and pyrolysis
  5. Lignocellulosic biomass-based nanomaterials (e.g., nanocellulose, lignin nanoparticles)
  6. Lignocellulosic biomass-based functional materials and applications (e.g., in biomedical, energy, and environmental areas)
  7. Plant derivatives for pharmaceutical applications
  8. Modification and characterization of cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin

Dr. Haishun Du
Dr. Sonali Mohapatra
Prof. Dr. Xuejun Pan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • lignocellulosic biomass
  • biorefinery
  • biomass conversion
  • bioenergy
  • biofuels
  • bioproducts
  • platform chemicals
  • cellulose nanomaterials
  • lignin nanoparticles
  • functional materials

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 3129 KiB  
Article
Fed-Batch Strategy Achieves the Production of High Concentration Fermentable Sugar Solution and Cellulosic Ethanol from Pretreated Corn Stover and Corn Cob
by Jiamin Huang, Xuezhi Li, Jian Zhao and Yinbo Qu
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(22), 12306; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms252212306 - 16 Nov 2024
Viewed by 274
Abstract
The bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass, which are abundant and renewable resources, into liquid fuels and bulk chemicals is a promising solution to the current challenges of resource scarcity, energy crisis, and carbon emissions. Considering the separation of some end-products, it is necessary to [...] Read more.
The bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass, which are abundant and renewable resources, into liquid fuels and bulk chemicals is a promising solution to the current challenges of resource scarcity, energy crisis, and carbon emissions. Considering the separation of some end-products, it is necessary to firstly obtain a high concentration separated fermentable sugar solution, and then conduct fermentation. For this purpose, in this study, using acid catalyzed steam explosion pretreated corn stover (ACSE-CS) and corn cob residues (CCR) as cellulosic substrate, respectively, the batch feeding strategies and enzymatic hydrolysis conditions were investigated to achieve the efficient enzymatic hydrolysis at high solid loading. It was shown that the fermentable sugar solutions of 161.2 g/L and 205 g/L were obtained, respectively, by fed-batch enzymatic hydrolysis of ACSE-CS under 30% of final solid loading with 10 FPU/g DM of crude cellulase, and of CCR at 27% of final solid loading with 8 FPU/g DM of crude cellulase, which have the potential to be directly applied to the large-scale fermentation process without the need for concentration, and the conversion of glucan in ACSE-CS and CCR reached 80.9% and 87.6%, respectively, at 72 h of enzymatic hydrolysis. This study also applied the fed-batch simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation process to effectively convert the two cellulosic substrates into ethanol, and the ethanol concentrations in fermentation broth reached 46.1 g/L and 72.8 g/L for ACSE-CS and CCR, respectively, at 144 h of fermentation. This study provides a valuable reference for the establishment of “sugar platform” based on lignocellulosic biomass and the production of cellulosic ethanol. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization of Lignocellulosic Biomass)
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20 pages, 4065 KiB  
Article
Solid-State Structures and Properties of Lignin Hydrogenolysis Oil Compounds: Shedding a Unique Light on Lignin Valorization
by Oliver J. Driscoll, Kristof Van Hecke, Christophe M. L. Vande Velde, Frank Blockhuys, Maarten Rubens, Tatsuhiro Kuwaba, Daniel J. van de Pas, Walter Eevers, Richard Vendamme and Elias Feghali
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(19), 10810; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms251910810 - 8 Oct 2024
Viewed by 801
Abstract
This article explores the important, and yet often overlooked, solid-state structures of selected bioaromatic compounds commonly found in lignin hydrogenolysis oil, a renewable bio-oil that holds great promise to substitute fossil-based aromatic molecules in a wide range of chemical and material industrial applications. [...] Read more.
This article explores the important, and yet often overlooked, solid-state structures of selected bioaromatic compounds commonly found in lignin hydrogenolysis oil, a renewable bio-oil that holds great promise to substitute fossil-based aromatic molecules in a wide range of chemical and material industrial applications. At first, single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) was applied to the lignin model compounds, dihydroconiferyl alcohol, propyl guaiacol, and eugenol dimers, in order to elucidate the fundamental molecular interactions present in such small lignin-derived polyols. Then, considering the potential use of these lignin-derived molecules as building blocks for polymer applications, structural analysis was also performed for two chemically modified model compounds, i.e., the methylene-bridging propyl-guaiacol dimer and propyl guaiacol and eugenol glycidyl ethers, which can be used as precursors in phenolic and epoxy resins, respectively, thus providing additional information on how the molecular packing is altered following chemical modifications. In addition to the expected H-bonding interactions, other interactions such as π–π stacking and C–H∙∙∙π were observed. This resulted in unexpected trends in the tendencies towards the crystallization of lignin compounds. This was further explored with the aid of DSC analysis and CLP intermolecular energy calculations, where the relationship between the major interactions observed in all the SCXRD solid-state structures and their physico-chemical properties were evaluated alongside other non-crystallizable lignin model compounds. Beyond lignin model compounds, our findings could also provide important insights into the solid-state structure and the molecular organization of more complex lignin fragments, paving the way to the more efficient design of lignin-based materials with improved properties for industrial applications or improving downstream processing of lignin oils in biorefining processes, such as in enhancing the separation and isolation of specific bioaromatic compounds). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization of Lignocellulosic Biomass)
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20 pages, 4166 KiB  
Article
Altered Expression of Two Small Secreted Proteins (ssp4 and ssp6) Affects the Degradation of a Natural Lignocellulosic Substrate by Pleurotus ostreatus
by Oded Yarden, Jiwei Zhang, Dor Marcus, Chunoti Changwal, Sameer J. Mabjeesh, Anna Lipzen, Yu Zhang, Emily Savage, Vivian Ng, Igor V. Grigoriev and Yitzhak Hadar
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(23), 16828; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms242316828 - 27 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1403
Abstract
Pleurotus ostreatus is a white-rot fungus that can degrade lignin in a preferential manner using a variety of extracellular enzymes, including manganese and versatile peroxidases (encoded by the vp1-3 and mnp1-6 genes, respectively). This fungus also secretes a family of structurally related small [...] Read more.
Pleurotus ostreatus is a white-rot fungus that can degrade lignin in a preferential manner using a variety of extracellular enzymes, including manganese and versatile peroxidases (encoded by the vp1-3 and mnp1-6 genes, respectively). This fungus also secretes a family of structurally related small secreted proteins (SSPs) encoded by the ssp1-6 genes. Using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), we determined that ssp4 and ssp6 are the predominant members of this gene family that were expressed by P. ostreatus during the first three weeks of growth on wheat straw. Downregulation of ssp4 in a strain harboring an ssp RNAi construct (KDssp1) was then confirmed, which, along with an increase in ssp6 transcript levels, coincided with reduced lignin degradation and the downregulation of vp2 and mnp1. In contrast, we observed an increase in the expression of genes related to pectin and side-chain hemicellulose degradation, which was accompanied by an increase in extracellular pectin-degrading capacity. Genome-wide comparisons between the KDssp1 and the wild-type strains demonstrated that ssp silencing conferred accumulated changes in gene expression at the advanced cultivation stages in an adaptive rather than an inductive mode of transcriptional response. Based on co-expression networking, crucial gene modules were identified and linked to the ssp knockdown genotype at different cultivation times. Based on these data, as well as previous studies, we propose that P. ostreatus SSPs have potential roles in modulating the lignocellulolytic and pectinolytic systems, as well as a variety of fundamental biological processes related to fungal growth and development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization of Lignocellulosic Biomass)
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16 pages, 3586 KiB  
Article
Expression and Characterization of Two α-l-Arabinofuranosidases from Talaromyces amestolkiae: Role of These Enzymes in Biomass Valorization
by Juan A. Méndez-Líter, Laura I. de Eugenio, Manuel Nieto-Domínguez, Alicia Prieto and María Jesús Martínez
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(15), 11997; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241511997 - 26 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1263
Abstract
α-l-arabinofuranosidases are glycosyl hydrolases that catalyze the break between α-l-arabinofuranosyl substituents or between α-l-arabinofuranosides and xylose from xylan or xylooligosaccharide backbones. While they belong to several glycosyl hydrolase (GH) families, there are only 24 characterized GH62 arabinofuranosidases, [...] Read more.
α-l-arabinofuranosidases are glycosyl hydrolases that catalyze the break between α-l-arabinofuranosyl substituents or between α-l-arabinofuranosides and xylose from xylan or xylooligosaccharide backbones. While they belong to several glycosyl hydrolase (GH) families, there are only 24 characterized GH62 arabinofuranosidases, making them a small and underrepresented group, with many of their features remaining unknown. Aside from their applications in the food industry, arabinofuranosidases can also aid in the processing of complex lignocellulosic materials, where cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin are closely linked. These materials can be fully converted into sugar monomers to produce secondary products like second-generation bioethanol. Alternatively, they can be partially hydrolyzed to release xylooligosaccharides, which have prebiotic properties. While endoxylanases and β-xylosidases are also necessary to fully break down the xylose backbone from xylan, these enzymes are limited when it comes to branched polysaccharides. In this article, two new GH62 α-l-arabinofuranosidases from Talaromyces amestolkiae (named ARA1 and ARA-2) have been heterologously expressed and characterized. ARA-1 is more sensitive to changes in pH and temperature, whereas ARA-2 is a robust enzyme with wide pH and temperature tolerance. Both enzymes preferentially act on arabinoxylan over arabinan, although ARA-1 has twice the catalytic efficiency of ARA-2 on this substrate. The production of xylooligosaccharides from arabinoxylan catalyzed by a T. amestolkiae endoxylanase was significantly increased upon pretreatment of the polysaccharide with ARA-1 or ARA-2, with the highest synergism values reported to date. Finally, both enzymes (ARA-1 or ARA-2 and endoxylanase) were successfully applied to enhance saccharification by combining them with a β-xylosidase already characterized from the same fungus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization of Lignocellulosic Biomass)
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11 pages, 30137 KiB  
Article
Rod-like Cellulose Regenerated by Bottom-Up Assembly in Natural Rubber Latex and Its Reinforcement
by Haoze Yuan, Peixing Li, Xinyu Wang, Hongying Zhao and Jutao Sun
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(7), 6457; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24076457 - 30 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1957
Abstract
As a renewable biomass material, nano-cellulose has been investigated as a reinforcing filler in rubber composites but has seen little success because of its strong inclination towards aggregating. Here, a bottom-up self-assembly approach was proposed by regenerating cellulose crystals from a mixture of [...] Read more.
As a renewable biomass material, nano-cellulose has been investigated as a reinforcing filler in rubber composites but has seen little success because of its strong inclination towards aggregating. Here, a bottom-up self-assembly approach was proposed by regenerating cellulose crystals from a mixture of cellulose solution and natural rubber (NR) latex. Different co-coagulants of both cellulose solution and natural rubber latex were added to break the dissolution equilibrium and in-situ regenerate cellulose in the NR matrix. The SEM images showed that the sizes and morphologies of regenerated cellulose (RC) varied greatly with the addition of different co-coagulants. Only when a 5 wt% acetic acid aqueous solution was used, the RC particles showed an ideal rod-like structure with small sizes of about 100 nm in diameter and 1.0 μm in length. The tensile test showed that rod-like RC (RRC)-endowed NR vulcanizates with pronounced reinforcement had a drastic upturn in stress after stretching to 200% strain. The results of XRD and the Mullins effect showed that this drastic upturn in stress was mainly attributed to the formation of rigid RRC-RRC networks during stretching instead of the strain-induced crystallization of NR. This bottom-up approach provided a simple way to ensure the effective utilization of cellulosic materials in the rubber industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization of Lignocellulosic Biomass)
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Review

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34 pages, 7163 KiB  
Review
Lignocellulosic Biomass for the Fabrication of Triboelectric Nano-Generators (TENGs)—A Review
by Omar P. Troncoso, Jim I. Corman-Hijar and Fernando G. Torres
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(21), 15784; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms242115784 - 30 Oct 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2583
Abstract
Growth in population and increased environmental awareness demand the emergence of new energy sources with low environmental impact. Lignocellulosic biomass is mainly composed of cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose. These materials have been used in the energy industry for the production of biofuels as [...] Read more.
Growth in population and increased environmental awareness demand the emergence of new energy sources with low environmental impact. Lignocellulosic biomass is mainly composed of cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose. These materials have been used in the energy industry for the production of biofuels as an eco-friendly alternative to fossil fuels. However, their use in the fabrication of small electronic devices is still under development. Lignocellulose-based triboelectric nanogenerators (LC-TENGs) have emerged as an eco-friendly alternative to conventional batteries, which are mainly composed of harmful and non-degradable materials. These LC-TENGs use lignocellulose-based components, which serve as electrodes or triboelectric active materials. These materials can be derived from bulk materials such as wood, seeds, or leaves, or they can be derived from waste materials from the timber industry, agriculture, or recycled urban materials. LC-TENG devices represent an eco-friendly, low-cost, and effective mechanism for harvesting environmental mechanical energy to generate electricity, enabling the development of self-powered devices and sensors. In this study, a comprehensive review of lignocellulosic-based materials was conducted to highlight their use as both electrodes and triboelectric active surfaces in the development of novel eco-friendly triboelectric nano-generators (LC-TENGs). The composition of lignocellulose and the classification and applications of LC-TENGs are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization of Lignocellulosic Biomass)
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