Lignocellulosic biomass as sustainable feedstock and materials for power generation and energy storage

Lignocellulosic biomass has attracted great interest in recent years for energy production due to its renewability and carbon-neutral nature.There are various ways to convert lignocellulose to gaseous,liquid and solid fuels via thermochemical,chemical or biological approaches.Typical biomass derived fuels include syngas,bio-gas,bio-oil,bioethanol and biochar,all of which could be used as fuels for furnace,engine,turbine or fuel cells.Direct biomass fuel cells mediated by various electron carriers provide a new direction of lignocellulose conversion.Various metal and non-metal based carriers have been screened for mediating the electron transfer from biomass to oxygen thus generating electricity.The power density of direct biomass fuel cells can be over 100 mW cm^(-2),which shows promise for practical applications.Lignocellulose and its isolated components,primarily cellulose and lignin,have also been paid considerable attention as sustainable carbonaceous materials for preparation of electrodes for supercapacitors,lithium-ion batteries and lithium-sulfur batteries.In this paper,we have provided a state-of-the-art review on the research progress of lignocellulosic biomass as feedstock and materials for power generation and energy storage focusing on the chemistry aspects of the processes.It was recommended that process integration should be performed to reduce the cost for thermochemical and biological conversion of lignocellulose to biofuels,while efforts should be made to increase efficiency and improve the properties for biomass fuelled fuel cells and biomass derived electrodes for energy storage.

Effects of protein and lignin on cellulose and xylan anaylses of lignocellulosic biomass

Interactions of lignocellulosic components during fiber analysis were investigated using the highly adopted compositional analysis procedure from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory（NREL）,USA.Synthetic feedstock samples were used to study the effects of lignin/protein,cellulose/protein,and xylan/protein interaction on carbohydrate analysis.Disregarding structural influence in the synthetic samples,lignin and protein components were the most significant（P〈0.05）factors on cellulose analysis.Measured xylan was consistent and unaffected by content variation throughout the synthetic analysis.Validation of the observed relationships from synthetic feedstocks was fulfilled using real lignocellulosic feedstocks：corn stover,poplar,and alfalfa,in which similar results have been obtained,excluding cellulose analysis of poplar under higher protein content and xylan analysis of alfalfa under higher protein content.The results elucidated that according to their protein and lignin contents of different lignocellulosic materials,accuracy of the NREL method on cellulose and xylan analyses could be improved by applying a stronger extraction step to replace water/ethanol extraction.

A Review of Lignocellulosic Biomass Pretreatment Technologies

Lignocellulose is the most abundant renewable resource on earth.However,owing to the tightly entangled structural characteristics,it is challenging to convert lignocellulose into bio-based products in the biorefinery process without pretreatment.Pretreatment can destroy the natural resistance structure of lignocellulosic biomass,which is conducive to its downstream enzymatic saccharification and fermentation process.Physical,chemical,and physicochemical pretreatments have been widely conducted for lignocellulosic biomass;several updated approaches and peculiar chemicals have also been proposed for these pretreatment methods in the recent years.Hence,this study comprehensively reviews the novel technologies and chemicals that were applied in the various pretreatments.In addition,the mechanisms,advantages,and disadvantages of the updated pretreatments are discussed to provide a reference for developing new pretreatment methods.

Literature Review on Furfural Production from Lignocellulosic Biomass

The use of renewable sources for obtainment of chemicals, biofuels, materials and energy has become each time larger due to environmental, political and economical problems of non-renewable energies utilization. Among several products that can be obtained from lignocellulosic biomass, which is a renewable source, there is furfural, a chemical from which many other value added chemical products can be obtained. The main route for furfural production consists of an acid hydrolysis of hemicelluloses present in lignocellulosic biomass to obtain xylose, which goes through a dehydration reaction to produce furfural. Due to the presence of an aldehyde group and a conjugated system of double bounds, furfural can go through several reactions, allowing the production of a range of value added products. In this sense, this article performs a review about mechanisms of furfural production from lignocellulosic biomass, highlighting its chemical properties which enable its utilization in different industrial applications of economic interest.

Scientific Articles and Patent Applications on Biodiesel Production from Lignocellulosic Biomass

This document was conducted to identify trends in research activity (published articles) and technology (patent applications) on the production of biodiesel from lignocellulosic biomass. The Web of Science, Compendex, and Scopus databases were used to retrieve articles and Derwent Innovation was used to search for patent applications;300 articles and 169 patent applications were retrieved. The most common research goals (microbial lipid production, acid pretreatment, and pyrolysis) were identified from an analysis of the author’s keywords. The countries most involved in research are China (96 articles), United States (68), and India (19). The top countries in international partnerships research were United States (22), China (16), and Germany (11). Bioresource Technology (54), Biotechnology for Biofuels (18), and Green Chemistry (13) are the journals with the most published articles. United States (84) is the leader on patent applications, followed by China (15) and Japan (5).

Biotechnological Transformation of Lignocellulosic Biomass in to Industrial Products: An Overview

Lignocellulose—a major component of biomass available on earth is a renewable and abundantly available with great potential for bioconversion to value-added bio-products. The review aims at physio-chemical features of lignocellulosic biomass and composition of different lignocellulosic materials. This work is an overview about the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into bio-energy products such as bio-ethanol, 1-butanol, bio-methane, bio-hydrogen, organic acids including citric acid, succinic acid and lactic acid, microbial polysaccharides, single cell protein and xylitol. The biotechnological aspect of bio-transformation of lignocelluloses research and its future prospects are also discussed.

The effect of hemicellulose on the interparticle frictional behavior of lignocellulosic biomass particulates

Lignocellulosic biomass material sourced from plants and herbaceous sources is considered as a prospective feedstock of inexpensive,potentially carbon-neutral energy.Lignocellulosic biomass is structurally built on cellulose,hemicellulose,and lignin,which are present in varying concentrations based on the feedstock type and play distinct and not well understood mechanical functions in the flow behavior.The frictional characteristics of lignocellulosic biomass particulates influence their flow behavior in biorefineries.Thus,it is important to fundamentally investigate the relative contribution of cellulose,hemicellulose,and lignin to the frictional behavior.However,these three biopolymers are interwoven into a complex matrix in the lignocellulosic biomass,thus making it hard to quantify the contribution of each biopolymer.In this study,we selectively remove hemicellulose from switchgrass and investigate the effects of its diminishing concentration on the coefficient of friction.We observed that the angle of repose and,therefore,the coefficient of friction for a loose assembly of the control and treated switchgrass samples decrease with decreasing hemicellulose content.This indicates the frictional resistance to flow for biomass particulate assemblies is at least proportional to the hemicellulose content.We also established that the observed changes in the frictional behavior were not due to particle morphological characteristics.

Review of the direct thermochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass for liquid fuels

Increased demand for liquid transportation fuels, environmental concerns and depletion of petroleum resources requires the development of efficient conversion technologies for production of second-generation biofuels from non-food resources. Thermochemical approaches hold great potential for conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into liquid fuels. Direct thermochemical processes convert biomass into liquid fuels in one step using heat and catalysts and have many advantages over indirect and biological processes, such as greater feedstock flexibility, integrated conversion of whole biomass, and lower operation costs. Several direct thermochemical processes are employed in the production of liquid biofuels depending on the nature of the feedstock properties: such as fast pyrolysis/liquefaction of lignocellulosic biomass for bio-oil, including upgrading methods, such as catalytic cracking and hydrogenation. Owing to the substantial amount of liquid fuels consumed by vehicular transport, converting biomass into drop-in liquid fuels may reduce the dependence of the fuel market on petroleumbased fuel products. In this review, we also summarize recent progress in technologies for large-scale equipment for direct thermochemical conversion. We focus on the technical aspects critical to commercialization of the technologies for production of liquid fuels from biomass,including feedstock type, cracking catalysts, catalytic cracking mechanisms, catalytic reactors, and biofuel properties. We also discuss future prospects for direct thermochemical conversion in biorefineries for the production of high grade biofuels.

Mechanism of Preparation of Platform Compounds from Lignocellulosic Biomass Liquefaction Catalyzed by Bronsted Acid: A Review

Over the past two decades, research on transforming lignocellulosic biomass into small molecule chemicals byusing catalytic liquefaction has made great progress. Notably, in recent years it has been found the production of smallmolecule chemicals through directional liquefaction of lignocellulosic biomass. Understanding the liquefactionmechanism of lignocellulosic biomass is highly important. In this review, the liquefaction mechanism of lignocellulosicbiomass and model compounds of cellulose are described, and some problems and suggestions to address them aredescribed.

Enhanced saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass with1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride(Amim Cl) pretreatment

A simple and efficient method of enhancing biomass saccharification by microwave-assisted pretreatment with dimethyl sulfoxide/1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride is proposed. Softwood（pine wood（PW））, hardwoods（poplar wood, catalpa bungi, and Chinese parasol）, and agricultural wastes（rice straw, wheat straw, and corn stover（CS）） were exploited. Results showed that the best pretreatment effect was in PW with 54.3% and 31.7% dissolution and extraction ratios, respectively. The crystal form of cellulose in PW extract transformed from I to II, and the contended cellulose ratio and glucose conversion ratio reached 85.1% and 85.4%, respectively. CS after steam explosion achieved a similar pretreating effect as PW, with its cellulose hydrolysis ratio reaching as high as 91.5% after IL pretreatment.

Effective purification of oily wastewater using lignocellulosic biomass:A review

Due to the frequent occurrence of oil spills and the large-scale production of oily wastewater, the treatment of oily sewage has become an important issue for sustainable development. Recently, materials prepared from lignocellulosic biomass(LCB) for oil-water separation have been found to be effective due to their high separation efficiency, good recyclability, and superior sustainability. However, few reviews have focused on the advantages and limitations of LCB for sewage treatment. This review summarizes the performance of modified LCB in oily wastewater treatment, in terms of the advanced modification methods applied and the structural dimensions of LCB materials according to the principle of superwetting oil-water separation. Research on the preparation technologies, separation mechanisms, and treatment efficiency of different LCB materials are briefly summarized, along with the characteristics of different LCB material types for oily wastewater treatment. Finally, the future prospects and challenges faced in the development of LCB materials are discussed.

Use of residual lignocellulosic biomass for energetic uses and environmental remediation through pyrolysis

This study analyzes the potential of an agricultural residue,hazelnut shells,as raw material in a combined ther-mochemical process to obtain pyro-gas and biochar for environmental remediation.The novelty of this study relies on the definition of a pyrolytic polygeneration process to simultaneously attain an energy-type product and abiochar to maximize the versatility of the products and their usage.To this aim,the heating value of the gas and its potential to feed a micro combined heat and power(micro-CHP)system was evaluated.Additionally,the resulting biochar was chemically activated and tested as adsorbent for the removal of contaminants from an aqueous solution.Results show that the pyro-gas from the shell-type residue was suitable to be used as feed stream in a micro-CHP unit,which was able to operate near the full-load(91.9%)with electrical and thermal efficiencies of 27.6%and 57.9%,respectively.In the case of the biochar fraction,poor results were found for the char prior to activation.Instead,once it was activated with KOH,the resulting activated carbon presented high effectiveness as adsorbent and complete removal of the measured compound(methylene blue)was achieved.

Co-digestion of Waste Coffee and Cocoa Hulls: Modeling of Biogas Production by the Particle Swarm Method

Energy is a crucial material for the development of our economy.Access to sufficient energy remains a major concern for developing countries,particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa.The major challenge lies in access to clean,environmentally friendly,quality and low-cost energy in different households in our municipalities.To cope with this vast energy gap,many households are dependent on fossil fuels.In Cameroon,the consumption of wood for the supply of energy is increasing by 4%per year.Overall,approximately 80%of households in Cameroon depend on woody biomass as the sole main source of energy supply in Cameroon and demand is growing over time.In view of the climatic variations that our countries,particularly Cameroon,undergo through deforestation,the use of wood as a source of energy is expensive and harmful to the environment,hence the urgency of replacing wood with renewable energy.Biogas is one of the most versatile sources of renewable energy.On an industrial scale,it is important to automate the process control.The main objective of the present work is to model the anaerobic digestion of coffee and cocoa hulls using the particle swarm optimisation method.Pretreatment using the organosolv process was done.This resulted in 48%lignin removal and 22%cellulose increase.For the pretreated biomass,the maximum production rate was 21 NmLCH4 per day with a biomethane yield of 90 NmLCH4/gVS.This represents an enhancement of 117%in biomethane yield.A positive flammability test was recorded after the 10th day of retention time.Moreover,the data collected during anaerobic digestion allowed implementation of a two-phase mathematical model.The thirteen parameters of the model were estimated with particle swarm optimisation method in Matlab.The model was able to simulate the biomethane production kinetics and variation of volatile fatty acid concentration.

Selective ligninolysis of wheat straw and wood chips by the white-rot fungus Lentinula edodes and its influence on in vitro rumen degradability

Background： The present work investigated the influence of lignin content and composition in the fungal treatment of lignocellulosic biomass in order to improve rumen degradability. Wheat straw and wood chips,differing in lignin composition, were treated with Lentinula edodes for 0, 2, 4, 8 and 12 wk and the changes occurring during fungal degradation were analyzed using pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and detergent fiber analysis.Results： L. edodes preferentially degraded lignin, with only limited cellulose degradation, in wheat straw and wood chips, leaving a substrate enriched in cellulose. Syringyl（S）-lignin units were preferentially degraded than guaiacyl（G）-lignin units, resulting in a decreased S/G ratio. A decreasing S/G ratio（wheat straw： r =-0.72, wood chips： r =-0.75） and selective lignin degradation（wheat straw： r =-0.69, wood chips： r =-0.88） were correlated with in vitro gas production（IVGP）, a good indicator for rumen degradability.Conclusions： L. edodes treatment increased the IVGP of wheat straw and wood chips. Effects on IVGP were similar for wheat straw and wood chips indicating that lignin content and 3D-structure of cell walls influence in vitro rumen degradability more than lignin composition.

The effect of particle size and amount of inoculum on fungal treatment of wheat straw and wood chips

Background： The aim of this study was to optimize the fungal treatment of lignocellulosic biomass by stimulating the colonization. Wheat straw and wood chips were treated with Ceriporiopsis subvermispora and Lentinula edodes with various amounts of colonized millet grains（0.5, 1.5 or 3.0 % per g of wet weight of substrate） added to the substrates. Also, wheat straw and wood chips were chopped to either 0.5 or 2 cm.Effectiveness of the fungal treatment after 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8 wk of incubation was determined by changes in chemical composition, in vitro gas production（IVGP） as a measure for rumen degradability, and ergosterol content as a measure of fungal biomass.Results： Incomplete colonization was observed for C. subvermispora treated wheat straw and L. edodes treated wood chips. The different particle sizes and amounts of inoculum tested, had no significant effects on the chemical composition and the IVGP of C. subvermispora treated wood chips. Particle size did influence L.edodes treatment of wheat straw. The L. edodes treatment of 2 cm wheat straw resulted in a more selective delignification and a higher IVGP than the smaller particles. Addition of 1.5 % or 3 % L. edodes inoculum to wheat straw resulted in more selective delignification and a higher IVGP than addition of 0.5 % inoculum.Conclusion： Particle size and amount of inoculum did not have an effect on C. subvermispora treatment of wood chips. At least 1.5 % L. edodes colonized millet grains should be added to 2 cm wheat straw to result in an increased IVGP and acid detergent lignin（ADL） degradation.

Effects of formaldehyde on fermentable sugars production in the low-cost pretreatment of corn stalk based on ionic liquids

Low cost processing of lignocellulosic biomass is of great importance for sustainable chemistry and engineering.Herein,a low cost system composed of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride([C_(4)C_(1) im]Cl),HCl and formaldehyde(FA)was developed for the pretreatment of corn stalk at 80℃.The efficiency of this technology was compared with that in dioxane system or without FA addition.Due to FA stabilization,the extent of acid-hydrolysis of carbohydrate fraction can be significantly decreased while 70%above of lignin was removed with the pretreatment of[C_(4)C_(1) im]Cl/HCl/FA system at 80℃for 2 h.A maximum reducing sugar yield of 93.7%and glucose concentration of 7.0 mg·ml^(-1) were subsequently obtained from enzymatic hydrolysis of the slurry.There were great differences in compositions of small molecule degraded products obtained with FA addition or not.The present[C_(4)C_(1) im]C_(l) based system exhibits great potential of substituting volatile organic solvents(i.e.dioxane)in developing low cost lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment at low temperature.Also,this work would gain insight into understanding on the roles of stabilization methods on the economic improvement of IL based biomass processing.

Transcriptome Analysis of White-Rot Fungi in Response to Lignocellulose or Lignocellulose-Derived Material Using RNA Sequencing Technology

White-rot fungi are the only organisms that can completely degrade all components of lignocellulosic biomass, including the recalcitrant lignin polymer. Lignin degradation is important for the industrial application of lignocellulosic biomass as a raw material for producing value-added chemicals and materials. Therefore, elucidating the lignin degradation mechanism in white-rot fungi will help researchers develop efficient and eco-friendly methods enabling the production of value-added chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass. A transcriptome analysis is an effective way to compare gene expression patterns between different samples under diverse conditions and can provide insights into biological processes. The democratization of next-generation sequencing technology, especially RNA-sequencing, has made transcriptome sequencing and analysis a common research approach for many laboratories. In this review, we focus on the transcriptome profiles of two well-characterized white-rot fungi (Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Dichomitus squalens) in response to various lignocellulosic materials. The application of RNA-seq technology combining with other techniques remains the best approach for investigating fungal secretomes and elucidating the mechanisms of fungal responses to lignocellulose.

Literature Review on Biorefinery Processes Integrated to the Pulp Industry

Biorefinery is a new term to designate two main subjects, bioproducts and bioenergy, which play important roles towards a more bio-based society. This paper reviews the current biorefineries model as well as its future importance focusing on pulp mill opportunities. There are currently several different levels of integration in biorefineries which add to their sustainability, both economically and environmentally. Enzymatic pretreatment for biomass deconstruction aiming to release the polysaccharides is a key technology in the future biorefineries and it is currently the subject of intensive research.

C_4 Plants as Biofuel Feedstocks: Optimising Biomass Production and Feedstock Quality from a Lignocellulosic Perspective

The main feedstocks for bioethanol are sugarcane （Saccharum offic- inarum） and maize （Zea mays）, both of which are C4 grasses, highly efficient at converting solar energy into chemical energy, and both are food crops. As the systems for lignocellulosic bioethanol production become more efficient and cost effective, plant biomass from any source may be used as a feedstock for bioethanol production. Thus, a move away from using food plants to make fuel is possible, and sources of biomass such as wood from forestry and plant waste from cropping may be used. However, the bioethanol industry will need a continuous and reliable supply of biomass that can be produced at a low cost and with minimal use of water, fertilizer and arable land. As many C4 plants have high light, water and nitrogen use efficiency, as compared with C3 species, they are ideal as feedstock crops. We consider the productivity and resource use of a number of candidate plant species, and discuss biomass ＇quality＇, that is, the composition of the plant cell wall.

Overview of biomass pretreatment for cellulosic ethanol production

Bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol is significantly hindered by the structural and chemical complexity of biomass,which makes these materials a challenge to be used as feedstocks for cellulosic ethanol production.Cellulose and hemicellulose,when hydrolyzed into their component sugars,can be converted into ethanol through well established fermentation technologies.However,sugars necessary for fermentation are trapped inside the crosslinking structure of the lignocellulose.Hence,pretreatment of biomass is always necessary to remove and/or modify the surrounding matrix of lignin and hemicellulose prior to the enzymatic hydrolysis of the polysaccharides(cellulose and hemicellulose)in the biomass.Pretreatment refers to a process that converts lignocellulosic biomass from its native form,in which it is recalcitrant to cellulase enzyme systems,into a form for which cellulose hydrolysis is much more effective.In general,pretreatment methods can be classified into three categories,including physical,chemical,and biological pretreatment.The subject of this paper emphasizes the biomass pretreatment in preparation for enzymatic hydrolysis and microbial fermentation for cellulosic ethanol production.It primarily covers the impact of biomass structural and compositional features on the pretreatment,the characteristics of different pretreatment methods,the pretreatment study status,challenges,and future research targets.