Promoting enzymatic hydrolysis of corncob through alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreatment and addition of additives

In order to improve the efficiency of converting lignocellulosic biomass into fermentable sugar, alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreatment and different additives were used for promoting enzymatic hydrolysis of corncob in this study. Furthermore, a kinetic model of enzymatic hydrolysis was used to study the dynamics of enzymatic hydrolysis process of corncob. The maximum total reducing sugar concentration was 6.163 g/L with the addition of Tween 80 at 120 h, which was 6.83 times higher than that of the raw. Comparing with the absence of additive, the total reducing sugar concentration was increased by 13.01% at the same conditions with the addition of Tween 80. The K_m of corncob pretreated by alkaline hydrogen peroxide increased with the increase of hydrogen peroxide concentrations and addition of additives. The increase of total reducing sugar concentration and K_m indicated that alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreatment and additives significantly promoted the enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency of corncob. Alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreatment mainly removed lignin and part of hemicellulose from corncob, thus promoting the enzymatic hydrolysis of corncob. Alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreatment and additives are effective methods to promote the saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass.