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Application of a water jet system to the pretreatment of cellulose
Author(s) -
Watanabe Yuka,
Kitamura Shinichi,
Kawasaki Kazunori,
Kato Tomoki,
Uegaki Koichi,
Ogura Kota,
Ishikawa Kazuhiko
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
biopolymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.556
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1097-0282
pISSN - 0006-3525
DOI - 10.1002/bip.21686
Subject(s) - cellulose , chemistry , nanofiber , hydrolysis , biomass (ecology) , cellulase , chemical engineering , jet (fluid) , cellulose fiber , organic chemistry , aerospace engineering , agronomy , engineering , biology
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. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 95:833–839, 2011.