Commercial grade,
xylo-oligosaccharide-rich, water-soluble streams, obtained after hydrothermal
pretreatment of wheat straw, were assessed for their potential as
sugar feedstocks to make glycol. When acid and enzymatically based
hydrolysis processes were compared, it appeared there was considerable
potential to further optimize the enzymatic approach of hydrolyzing
the oligomers to pure xylose. Various commercial enzyme cocktails
and their synergistic cooperation were assessed over a range of combinations
and hydrolysis conditions. An optimized “enzyme cocktail,”
at low protein loadings, could hydrolyze more than 80% of the oligomers
to xylose within 3 h. After 24 h, all of the xylo-oligomers were hydrolyzed
to xylose. A moderately adjusted pH of 4.3 ensured fast and efficient
hydrolysis without the need for agitation. The advantage of an enzymatic
as opposed to an acid-based approach to hydrolysis was evidenced when
the process was scaled up to 300 L. These include the use of a cheaper
and simpler infrastructure, improved xylose recovery, and a much easier
xylose purification process. This indicated the potential for further
enzyme recycling and reuse, further enhancing the economic attractiveness
of an enzyme-based approach.
Polymer latexes of poly(benzyl methacrylate) P(BzMA) were synthesized by mini-emulsion polymerization, using hexadecane as the hydrophobe and ω-unsaturated methacrylate-based macromonomers as a reactive stabilizer. The amphiphilic macromonomers were synthesized by...
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