Topochemical Engineering & Bioinspired Fabrication

Topochemical fractionation of lignin and polysaccharides

Sugarcane bagasse is abundant agro-industrial waste that can be potentially utilized as a source of valuable compounds and biopolymers. In the present study, sugarcane bagasse from Brazil was fractionated employing an environmentally...

Topochemical characterisation of sugar cane internodes

Biomass pretreatments and subsequent conversion to fuels and materials involve a multitude of topochemical interactions. Detailed knowledge about changes in surface composition of biomass caused by pretreatments allows tailoring of biomass processing...

HyCellSolv pretreatment to enhance cellulose dissolution in water based solvents

Cellulose dissolution in water-based solvents is essential for processing of regenerated cellulose products such as fibres, films and particles. Cellulose dissolution in NaOH–urea aqueous solution has emerged as a simple and attractive...

Topochemical treatment of sugar cane bagasse for enzymatic hydrolysis of sugars

In this work, dilute alkaline and alkaline peroxide pretreatments were conducted in comparison with hydrotropic pretreatment to improve the delignification of bagasse prior to enzymatic hydrolysis. The surface chemical composition of bagasse...

Controlled depolimerization of cellulose via HyCellSolv

The degree of polymerization of cellulose is very relevant for physical and chemical properties of highly engineered biomaterials. The ability to control the level of depolymerisation to a final specific value opens...

Hydrotropic extraction of birch lignin

In this work an environmentally friendly hydrotropic process was used to extract lignin from industrial birch wood chips. Two hydrotropic treatments were performed, a conventional and a modified process. The lignins were...

Enhanced enzymatic saccharification of corn stover via topochemical treatment

Hydrotropic pretreatment using sodium xylene sulfonate (SXS) could remove lignin and xylan from corn stover to enhance enzymatic saccharification. Peracetic acid (PAA) treatment prior to the hydrotropic process [so-called modified hydrotropic pretreatment...