Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, NY 14260-4200, USA.
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, NY 14260-4200, USA.
Bioresour Technol. 2017 Mar;228:330-338. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2016.12.049. Epub 2016 Dec 18.
A necessary step in the processing of biomass is the pretreatment and dissolution of cellulose. A good solvent for cellulose involves high diffusivity, aggressiveness in decrystallization, and capability of disassociating the cellulose chains. However, it is not clear which of these factors and under what conditions should be improved in order to obtain a more effective solvent. To this end, a newly-developed phenomenological model has been applied to assess the controlling mechanism of cellulose dissolution. Among the findings, the cellulose fibers remain crystalline almost to the end of the dissolution process for decrystallization-controlled kinetics. In such solvents, decreasing the fiber crystallinity, e.g., via pretreatment, would result in a considerable increase in the dissolution rate. Such insights improve the understanding of cellulose dissolution and facilitate the selection of more efficient solvents and processing conditions for biomass. Specific examples of solvents are provided where dissolution is limited due to decrystallization or disentanglement.
在生物质处理过程中，预处理和纤维素溶解是必要的步骤。纤维素的理想溶剂应具备高扩散性、强去结晶能力和有效切断纤维素链的能力。然而，目前尚不清楚为了获得更有效的溶剂，应该改进哪些因素以及在什么条件下改进。为此，本文应用新开发的唯象模型评估了纤维素溶解的控制机制。研究发现，对于去结晶控制动力学，纤维素纤维在溶解过程的几乎最后阶段仍保持结晶状态。在这样的溶剂中，通过预处理降低纤维结晶度，例如，会导致溶解速率显著提高。这些见解提高了对纤维素溶解的理解，并有助于选择更有效的溶剂和生物质加工条件。对于由于去结晶或解缠结而受到限制的溶解实例，本文提供了具体的溶剂示例。
