Novel pretreatment pathways for dissolution of lignocellulosic biomass based on ionic liquid and low temperature alkaline treatment

Pretreatment, fractionation and hydrolysis remains costly and challenging process steps in biochemical conversion of softwoods. Here, ionic liquid pretreatment using 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (EMIM-OAc) at high temperature (100 °C, 6 h) and alkali based (NaOH/urea) pretreatment at sub-zero temperature (−18 °C, 24 h) were compared and combined in studies of Norway Spruce biomass deconstruction. Both treatments significantly improved the enzymatic digestibility of the biomass. EMIM-OAc gave higher glucan than mannan digestibility, indicating a more pronounced effect on the cellulose polymer than on the hemicellulose polymer. In contrast, low temperature alkali pretreatment using NaOH or NaOH + urea gave a more pronounced effect on mannan than on glucan digestibility. By combining the two methods the total monosugar yield after enzymatic hydrolysis was improved by 20-50% as compared to using ionic liquid or alkali based pretreatment alone. Lignin dissolution was low for both methods under the conditions studied.