Enzymatic saccharification of woody biomass micro/nanofibrillated by continuous extrusion process II: Effect of hot-compressed water treatment

An extrusion process involving a twin-screw extruder was used for the micro/nanofibrillation of Douglas fir and Eucalyptus treated with hot-compressed water (HCW). Partial removal of hemicellulose and lignin by HCW treatment effectively improved the fibrillation by extrusion. Only HCW treatment produced glucose less than 5 weight percent (wt.%) in Douglas fir in a temperature range of 140–180 °C by enzymatic hydrolysis. Glucose production yields of 18 and 26 wt.% were obtained by HCW treatment at 170 and 180 °C, respectively, in Eucalyptus. Use of extrusion after HCW treatment drastically improved monosaccharide production yield in both woods. In the case of Douglas fir, the obtained values were 5 times higher than those obtained by HCW treatment alone. Total monosaccharide production yields were higher in Eucalyptus than in Douglas fir. The extruded production had a fine fibrous morphology on a sub-micro/nanoscopic scale. This result shows the great potential of the extrusion process after HCW treatment as a cost-effective pretreatment for enzymatic saccharification of woody biomass.