“…The predominant elemental peaks observed in the biomass spectrum were C 1s and O 1s. Deconvolution of the C 1s spectra, as seen in Figure b, produced three peaks, each with an integrating binding energy of 284.60 ± 0.20 eV for C–C and C–H species, 285.80 eV for C–N species, and 286.50 ± 0.20 eV for C–OH and C–O–C species. − Due to the breakdown of carbon–carbon and carbon–hydrogen bonds between lignin and carbohydrates during pretreatment, the content of C–C and C–H species decreased from 49.94 to 33.21%, whereas the content of C–OH and C–O–C increased significantly from 28.85 to 66.78% as the concentration of cellulose in the biomass increased after pretreatments.…”