SANS study of cellulose extracted from switchgrass

Acta Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr. 2010 Nov;66(Pt 11):1189-93. doi: 10.1107/S0907444910020408. Epub 2010 Oct 20.

Abstract

Lignocellulosic biomass, which is an abundant renewable natural resource, has the potential to play a major role in the generation of renewable biofuels through its conversion to bioethanol. Unfortunately, it is a complex biological composite material that shows significant recalcitrance, making it a cost-ineffective feedstock for bioethanol production. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) was employed to probe the multi-scale structure of cellulosic materials. Cellulose was extracted from milled native switchgrass and from switchgrass that had undergone a dilute acid pretreatment method in order to disrupt the lignocellulose structure. The high-Q structural feature (Q > 0.07 Å(-1)) can be assigned to cellulose fibrils based on a comparison of cellulose purified by solvent extraction of native and dilute acid pretreated switchgrass and a commercial preparation of microcrystalline cellulose. Dilute acid pretreatment results in an increase in the smallest structural size, a decrease in the interconnectivity of the fibrils and no change in the smooth domain boundaries at length scales larger than 1000 Å.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Biomass*
  • Cellulose / chemistry*
  • Cellulose / isolation & purification*
  • Cellulose / metabolism
  • Neutron Diffraction*
  • Poaceae / growth & development*
  • Scattering, Small Angle*

Substances

  • Cellulose
  • microcrystalline cellulose