The Mechanisms of Plant Cell Wall Deconstruction during Enzymatic Hydrolysis |
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| Authors: | Lisbeth G Thygesen Emil E Thybring Katja S Johansen Claus Felby |
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| Institution: | 1. University of Copenhagen, Department of Geosciences and Nature management, Faculty of Science, Frederiksberg C, Denmark.; 2. EMPA, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Applied Wood Materials, Dübendorf, Switzerland; ETH Zürich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Institute for Building Materials, Wood Materials Science, Zürich, Switzerland.; 3. Novozymes A/S, Bagsværd, Denmark.; UMass, United States of America, |
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| Abstract: | Mechanical agitation during enzymatic hydrolysis of insoluble plant biomass at high dry matter contents is indispensable for the initial liquefaction step in biorefining. It is known that particle size reduction is an important part of liquefaction, but the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. Here we put forward a simple model based on mechanical principles capable of capturing the result of the interaction between mechanical forces and cell wall weakening via hydrolysis of glucosidic bonds. This study illustrates that basic material science insights are relevant also within biochemistry, particularly when it comes to up-scaling of processes based on insoluble feed stocks. |
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