Enzymatic Hydrolysis Performance of Biomass by the Addition of a Lignin Based Biosurfactant

Hydrolysis of biomass for the production of fermentable sugar can be improved by the addition of surfactants. In pulp and paper mills, lignin, which is a by-product of the pulping process, can be utilized as a fine chemical. In the hydrolysis process, lignin is one of the major inhibitors of the enzymatic breakdown cellulose into sugar monomer. Therefore, the conversion of lignin into a biosurfactant offers the opportunity to solve the waste problem and improve hydrolysis efficiency. In this study, lignin derivatives, a biosurfactant, was applied to enzymatic hydrolysis of various lignocellulosic biomass. This Biosurfactant can be prepared by reacting lignin with a hydrophilic polymer such as polyethylene glycol diglycidylethers (PEDGE). In this study, the effect of biosurfactants on the enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated sweet sorghum bagasse (SSB), oil palm empty fruit bunch, and sugarcane trash with different lignin contents was investigated. The results show that lignin derivatives improve the enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated biomass with low lignin content, however, it has less influence on the enzymatic hydrolysis of other pretreated biomass with lignin content higher than 10% (w/w). The use of biosurfactant on SSB kraft pulp can increase the sugar yield from 45.57% to 81.49%.