A one-step deconstruction-separation organosolv fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass using acetone/phenoxyethanol/water ternary solvent system

Mild organosolv pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse with acetone/phenoxyethanol/water for enhanced sugar production

“…Twenty-nine preliminary groups were obtained. The pretreatment procedure was carried out as previously described by Chen et al 9 To obtain mild reaction conditions and figure out an indicator for effective lignin removal in the APW system, the combined severity factor (CSF), which combined temperature, time, and pH into a single parameter R 0 , was introduced to further optimize the pretreatment conditions. 23 CSF = log R 0 − pHwhere t is the cooking time (min), T r is the pretreatment temperature (°C), and T b is the base temperature (100 °C).…”

“…In the last two decades, various pretreatment methods have been developed, including dilute acid, alkali, ionic liquid, organosolv, deep eutectic solvents, steam explosion, liquid hot water, and combined treatment. 6–13 However, not all pretreatment methods can effectively fractionate biomass components, especially lignin, to maximize the value of lignocellulose. Of various pretreatments, organosolv pretreatment is attractive as it can fractionate lignocellulose into carbohydrate polymers and lignin with the selection of solvents and pretreatment conditions.…”

“…14 The mass transfer efficiency of monophasic systems is obviously higher than that of biphasic systems. 9 However, the biphasic system can effectively fractionate lignocellulose biomass, as hemicellulose was decomposed and then dissolved in the aqueous phase. Lignin is distributed in the organic phase with cellulose left as the residue.…”

“…Recently, our research group developed a ternary solvent system composed of acetone, phenoxyethanol, and water (APW). 9 The APW system has the advantages of monophasic deconstruction and biphasic separation and can achieve effective biomass fractionation. With the APW system, Amorpha was effectively fractionated under the optimal conditions of 130 °C, 70 min, 0.15 M sulfuric acid, and 20 LSR (liquid–solid ratio), achieving 95.6% delignification and 98.39% hemicellulose removal, retaining 80.48% of cellulose in the solid fraction.…”

Recent advances in biomass pretreatment using biphasic solvent systems

“…90 Except for acid/ alkaline solutions, acetone has also been proposed in a phenoxyethanol/water system to pretreat different biomasses, which could result in excellent delignification (>92%) satisfying enzymatic digestibility (>80%) for bagasse and corncob. 91 All of the above references demonstrate that a phenoxyethanol/ water biphasic system has the advantages of being green, environment-friendly, and recyclable, which can achieve high lignin and hemicellulose removal and enzyme digestibility. While, airtight pretreatment equipment should be applied for the phenoxyethanol based pretreatment as safety hazards for humans with gastric, dizziness, nausea, respiratory problems, and headaches may occur when they inhale a large amount of exposed phenoxyethanol in an industrial operating environment.…”