Characterization of white poplar and eucalyptus after ionic liquid pretreatment as a function of biomass loading using X-ray diffraction and small angle neutron scattering

•Smaller pores contribute less to the increased porosity than larger pores.•Cellulose crystalline structure plays a more important role in sugar conversion.•Contrasting dependences of sugar conversion on biomass loadings observed.•SANS showed IL pretreatment created small pores on the length scale of 60 Å.

A systematic study was performed to understand interactions among biomass loading during ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment, biomass type and biomass structures. White poplar and eucalyptus samples were pretreated using 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (EmimOAc) at 110 °C for 3 h at biomass loadings of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 wt%. All of the samples were chemically characterized and tested for enzymatic hydrolysis. Physical structures including biomass crystallinity and porosity were measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and small angle neutron scattering (SANS), respectively. SANS detected pores of radii ranging from ∼25 to 625 Å, enabling assessment of contributions of pores with different sizes to increased porosity after pretreatment. Contrasting dependences of sugar conversion on white poplar and eucalyptus as a function of biomass loading were observed and cellulose crystalline structure was found to play an important role.