Abstract
This study investigated combined alkali and heat pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for fermentative bioethanol production. Prior to fermentation, alkali pretreatment of corn stalk (CS) was carried out in NaOH solution under varying concentration which was followed by incubation at 100 °C for 1 h. The slurry of alkali-pretreated CS was supplemented with media and incubated at 30 °C, 96 h and pH 5. The 2.0% alkali pretreatment was most effective. Further optimization studies with filtrate and 5% inoculum size produced 43.8 g/L bioethanol. Chemical analysis of CS shows 61.75 and 71.49% degradation of hemicellulose and lignin, respectively, under optimal conditions. Structural changes of CS biomass monitored via scanning electron microscope showed that pretreatment with NaOH induced porosity and surface area disruption when compared to the untreated samples. Pretreated CS showed higher crystallinity index as revealed by X-ray diffraction analysis. The results showed that alkali-pretreated CS can serve as a potential feed stock for bioethanol production to reduce dependency on fossil fuel.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS) and Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) for awarding Dr. Adekunle E.A the COMSAT-BCSIR Post-Doctoral fellowship.
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Rabeya, T., Jehadin, F., Asad, M.A. et al. Alkali and Intensified Heat Treatment of Corn Stalk for Bioethanol Production. Sugar Tech 23, 643–650 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-020-00908-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-020-00908-w