Application of a water jet system to the pretreatment of cellulose

Abstract

Plant cellulose is the most abundant organic compound on earth. Technologies for producing cellulose fiber or improving the enzymatic saccharification of cellulose hold the key to biomass applications. A technology for atomizing biomass without strong acid catalysis remains to be developed. The water jet is a well-known device used in machines (e.g., washing machines, cutters, and mills) that use high-pressure water. In this study, we examined whether a water jet system could be used to atomize crystalline cellulose, which comprises approximately 50% of plant biomass. The Star Burst System manufactured by Sugino Machine Limited (Sugino Machine; Toyama, Japan) is a unique atomization machine that uses a water jet to atomize materials and thereby places lower stress on the environment. After treatment with this system, the crystalline cellulose was converted into a gel-like form. High-angular annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy showed that the cellulose fibers had been converted from a solid crystalline into a matrix of cellulose nanofibers. In addition, our results show that this system can improve the saccharification efficiency of cellulases by more than three-fold. Hence, the Star Burst System provides a new and mild pretreatment system for processing biomass materials.

Effect of purification method of β-chitin from squid pen on the properties of β-chitin nanofibers

“…The Star Burst system can convert -chitin and cellulose into their NFs by wet pulverization using a water jet [18]. This system uses only water without the need for additional acid, achieves much lower contamination, and has high throughput [19,20]. These advantages can reduce the barrier for use in medical supplies, cosmetics, and food.…”

The Structure and the Mechanical Properties of a Newly Fabricated Cellulose-Nanofiber/Polyvinyl-Alcohol Composite

“…The system puts low stress on the environment because it only needs water jet, and the aqueous solution of cellulose nanofibers is easily produced just by running cellulose powder through the chamber with a high pressure of water [5]. Furthermore, the cellulose suspension obtained by SB method showed uniform dispersibility.…”

Structural and mechanical properties of cellulose composites made of isolated cellulose nanofibers and poly(vinyl alcohol)

“…In fact, the suspension obtained by the SB processing presented uniform dispersibility of the cellulose fibers. Watanabe et al demonstrated that the cellulose-nanofiber suspension made by the SB processing with the fiber diameter of ~25 nm did not present any precipitation of the cellulose fibers even after six months, indicating a homogenous nano-dispersed cellulose suspension [17].…”

“…1 shows a schematic diagram of SB processing. The aqueous suspension of cellulose nanofibers was easily produced only by putting microcrystalline cellulose powder into the SB chamber with a high pressure of water [17][18][19]. The amount of residues caused by the SB processing was significantly lower than that of the grinding method [19], and the nozzle size in the SB processing was ~20% smaller than that of ACC [16], therefore we considered SB as a more efficient method than ACC to make Cel-F because of the higher kinetic energy of the suspension.…”