Title: Combination of aqueous pre-treatments with oxygen-alkali extraction for the enhancement of kenaf core fibre hydrolysability into fermentable sugars

Authors: Ying Ying Tye; Cheu Peng Leh

Addresses: School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden, 11800 Penang, Malaysia ' School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden, 11800 Penang, Malaysia

Abstract: Kenaf core fibre was introduced for cellulosic alcohol production. Various pre-treatments with and without oxygen-alkali extraction were employed in this study. The effects of pre-treatments on the enzymatic hydrolysability of kenaf core fibre for sugar production were investigated by FTIR and SEM to characterise the chemical structure and examine the morphology of the fibre, respectively. Both characterisation results were supported by chemical composition analysis of biomass. Results showed that the glucose yield of the fibre with a pre-treatment followed by an oxygen-alkali extraction was remarkably higher than that of the counterpart without an oxygen-alkali extraction. Chemical and morphology analyses indicated that the combination of oxygen-alkali extraction with water and acid pre-treatments could increase the fibres saccharification due to large removal of hemicellulose as well as lignin, and severe structural modifications of fibre. Nevertheless, the combination of alkali pre-treatment with oxygen-alkali extraction did not change the chemical composition and surface morphology of the fibre dramatically. [Received: January 3, 2016; Accepted: April 24, 2016]

Keywords: chemical composition; enzymatic hydrolysis; FTIR; glucose; kenaf core fibre; oxygen-alkali extraction; pre-treatment; aqueous pre-treatment; fermentable sugars; cellulosic alcohol production; sugar production; biomass; fibres saccharification; hemicellulose removal; lignin removal; fibre modification.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2017.081099

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2017 Vol.14 No.1/2, pp.49 - 61

Received: 08 Jan 2016
Accepted: 24 Apr 2016
Published online: 21 Dec 2016 *

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