Fellowships

PI: Nicole Labbe
University: University of Tennessee

Research Partner: Luc Moens
Research Partner Laboratory: National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Title: Biomass cell wall deconstruction by ionic liquids

Abstract:

In biomass conversion, pretreatment has been viewed as one of the most expensive processing costs. In the cellulosic biomass-to-fermentable sugars conversion it can cost as high as 30c/gallon of ethanol produced. However, pretreatment is an indispensable step. It is required to alter the biomass macroscopic and microscopic size and structure as well as its submicroscopic chemical composition and structure so the cell wall deconstruction can be achieved more rapidly and with greater yield. For example in biomass-to fermentable sugars conversion, pretreatmentmakes cellulose more accessible to the enzymes that convert the carbohydrate polymers into fermentable sugars. The goal is to break the lignin seal and disrupt the crystalline structure of cellulose. Also, pretreatment has great potential for improvement of efficiency and lowering cost through research and development.

Early works have reported the power of ionic liquid as a solvent to dissolve cellulose. Research at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory emphasizes the development of new technologies for conversion of biomass, employing novel separation technologies. Dr. Moens is exploring the use of new solvent systems based on ionic liquids as reaction media to catalytically convert carbohydrates and lignin into useful chemicals. This fellowship will give me the opportunity to work with Dr. Moens and learn from his expertise to design new ionic liquids with desirable properties. This work will investigate the use of ionic liquids in the fermentation process, to increase accessibility for the degradation process. In addition to use ionic liquids in the pretreatment step in the cellulosic biomass-to-fermentable sugars conversion, ionic liquid can also be used in the second step, as a solvent for the enzymecatalysed reactions. Ionic liquids have elicited an immense degree of recent interest as neotric solvents for enzyme-catalysed reactions. A number of enzymes have been shown to retain high levels of catalytic activity in ionic liquids, with small variations in the chemical composition of the solvent.