Enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis and structural features of corn stover by FeCl3 pretreatment

Corn stover was pretreated with FeCl3 to remove almost all of the hemicellulose present and then hydrolyzed with cellulase and β-glucosidase to produce glucose. Enzymatic hydrolysis of corn stover that had been pretreated with FeCl3 at 160 °C for 20 min resulted in an optimum yield of 98.0%. This yield was significantly higher than that of untreated corn stover (22.8%). FeCl3 pretreatment apparently damaged the surface of corn stover and significantly increased the enzymatic digestibility, as evidenced by SEM and XRD analysis data. FTIR analysis indicated that FeCl3 pretreatment could disrupt almost all the ether linkages and some ester linkages between lignin and carbohydrates but had no effect on delignification. The FeCl3 pretreatment technique, as a novel pretreatment method, enhances enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass by destructing chemical composition and altering structural features.