Lignocellulosic biomass is a renewable resource capable of addressing the increasing worldwide demand for energy and the movement toward low carbon footprint, liquid transportation and aviation biofuels. Purposely grown energy crops (wood and grasses) and crop residues (corn stalks, sugarcane bagasse, and wheat straw) are available for conversion to biofuels if attractive process economics are achieved in hydrolyzing these lignocellulosic materials to sugars and converting the sugars to biofuels and bioproducts. Cellulase enzymes that hydrolyze cellulose to glucose currently contribute operating expenses of $0.15–$0.20 per liter of ethanol out of a total of $0.53. The goal is to decrease enzyme costs to 3–5 ¢/L. The high cost is in part due to the high loading of cellulases needed to make up activity losses when the enzymes bind to lignin rather than the cellulose substrate that is located in close proximity to the lignin. We address the concept of using liquid chromatography columns packed with biomass to efficiently probe partitioning of cellulases and other proteins on the surfaces of various forms of lignocellulose. The correlation of elution profiles to fundamental adsorption behavior provides a pathway to a deeper understanding of inhibition of cellulose hydrolysis due to interactions of proteins at heterogeneous lignocellulosic interfaces.

木质纤维素生物质是一种可再生资源，能够满足全球对能源不断增长的需求以及向低碳足迹，液体运输和航空生物燃料的发展。如果在将这些木质纤维素材料水解为糖并将糖类转化为生物燃料和生物制品方面获得了有吸引力的过程经济效益，则可以将有目的的能源作物（木材和草）和作物残渣（玉米秸秆，甘蔗渣和小麦秸秆）转化为生物燃料。 。目前，纤维素酶将纤维素水解为葡萄糖，在每0.53美元的乙醇中，每升乙醇的运营费用为0.15美元至0.20美元。目标是将酶成本降低到3-5美分/升。高成本部分是由于当酶结合木质素而不是紧靠木质素的纤维素底物结合时，需要大量的纤维素酶来弥补活性损失。我们提出了使用装有生物质的液相色谱柱来有效探测纤维素酶和其他蛋白质在各种形式的木质纤维素表面上的分配的概念。洗脱曲线与基本吸附行为的相关性为深入理解由于异质木质纤维素界面上蛋白质相互作用而抑制纤维素水解提供了一条途径。我们提出了使用装有生物质的液相色谱柱来有效探测纤维素酶和其他蛋白质在各种形式的木质纤维素表面上的分配的概念。洗脱曲线与基本吸附行为的相关性为深入理解由于异质木质纤维素界面上蛋白质相互作用而抑制纤维素水解提供了一条途径。我们提出了使用装有生物质的液相色谱柱来有效探测纤维素酶和其他蛋白质在各种形式的木质纤维素表面上的分配的概念。洗脱曲线与基本吸附行为的相关性为深入理解由于异质木质纤维素界面上蛋白质相互作用而抑制纤维素水解提供了一条途径。