Abstract
This study investigated the effect of xylanase-assisted alkaline pretreatment (XAP) on the extraction of cellulose nanocrystal (CNCs) from energy cane (EC). Different concentrations of xylanase were tested to estimate the optimal enzyme loading required for pretreatment. XAP reduced the bleaching step from 7 to 5 h, generating a material with 93% whiteness index and a higher crystallinity index (CrI) than the alkaline-bleached fibers. A combined pretreatment using xylanase at 200 U/g removed 59 and 35% of hemicellulose and lignin, respectively, that was present in the EC which was confirmed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy analysis. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy revealed the XAP material required a shorter time of acid hydrolysis (30 min) to generate CNCs with similar lengths and CrI values to those obtained using only the alkaline pretreatment. Therefore, the XAP offered an efficient and promising approach for the isolation of CNCs with less use of chemicals for the bleaching process and a shorter hydrolysis time.
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Acknowledgments
This research is supported in part by the Graduate Program Scholarship from The Graduate School, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand and the Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF), Denmark (Grant Number NNF10CC1016517). The authors are grateful to the Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Agro-Industry, Kasetsart University for providing access to laboratory equipment and instruments and to the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), Thailand, for providing the xylanase enzyme. The authors also thank Asst. Prof. Sarawut Rungmekarat from the Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Kasetsart University for providing the energy cane.
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Meesupthong, R., Yingkamhaeng, N., Nimchua, T. et al. Xylanase pretreatment of energy cane enables facile cellulose nanocrystal isolation. Cellulose 28, 799–812 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-020-03559-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-020-03559-y