Efficient Hydrolytic Breakage of β-1,4-Glycosidic Bond Catalyzed by a Difunctional Magnetic Nanocatalyst

A novel difunctional magnetic nanocatalyst (DMNC) was prepared and used to catalyse the hydrolytic breakage of β-1,4-glycosidic bonds. The functional nanoparticle displayed excellent catalytic activity for hydrolysis of cellobiose to glucose under moderate conditions. The conversion of cellobiose and yield of glucose could reach 95.3 and 91.1 %, respectively, for a reaction time of 6 h at pH 4.0 and 130°C. DMNC was also an efficient catalyst for the hydrolysis of cellulose: 53.9 % microcrystalline cellulose was hydrolyzed, and 45.7 % reducing sugar was obtained at pH 4.0 and 130°C after 10 h. The magnetic catalyst could be recycled and reused five times without significant loss of catalytic activity.

Enzymatic membrane reactor for full saccharification of ionic liquid-pretreated microcrystalline cellulose

Ultrafiltration reactors based on polymeric or ceramic membranes were shown to be suitable catalytic systems for fast enzymatic saccharification of cellulose, allowing the full recovery and reuse of enzymes. By pre-treating cellulose with the IL 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, the suitability of this substrate for enzymatic saccharification in a reactor based on polymeric ultrafiltration membranes was demonstrated, leading to 95% cellulose hydrolysis in 4h at 50°C. The filtration process gave a clear glucose solution (up to 113 mM) at constant permeate flow (24.7 L h(-1) m(-2)), allowing the enzyme to be reused for 9 operation cycles under semi-continuous operation, without any loss of enzyme activity. Under continuous operation mode and using ceramic ultrafiltration membranes at different residence times, the enzymatic reactor showed constant profiles in both the permeate flow rate and the glucose concentration, demonstrating the excellent suitability of the proposed approach for the saccharification of cellulose.