Effects of furan derivatives on biohydrogen fermentation from wet steam-exploded cornstalk and its microbial community

• Understanding furan derivatives is important for gas biofuels from lignocellulose.
• HMF and FUR had various effects on hydrogen fermentation and microbial community.
• Hydrogen productivity was increased by up to 40% with the addition of HMF.
• Furan derivatives were almost degraded at an initial concentration below 1 g/L.

Understanding the role of furan derivatives, furfural (FUR) and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF), is important for biofuel production from lignocellulosic biomass. In this study, the effects of furan derivatives on hydrogen fermentation from wet steam-exploded cornstalk were investigated. The control experiments with only seed sludge indicated that HMF addition of up to 1 g/L stimulated hydrogen production. Similar results were obtained using steam-exploded cornstalk as the feedstock. Hydrogen productivity was increased by up to 40% with the addition of HMF. In addition, over 90% of furan derivatives with an initial concentration below 1 g/L were degraded. Pyosequencing showed that the addition of HMF and FUR resulted in different microbial communities. HMF led to a higher proportion of the genera Clostridium and Ruminococcaceae, supporting the increased hydrogen production. This study suggested that hydrogen fermentation could be a detoxifying step for steam-exploded cornstalk, and HMF and FUR exhibited different functions for hydrogen fermentation.