Performing Department
Agricultural Research
Non Technical Summary
Forest biomass is frequently referred to as lignocellulosic biomass. This is the most abundantly available biopolymer in the world. It is estimated that the worldwide production of lignocellulosic biomass is about 13 billion metric tons per annum. The cellulose present in the biomass can be depolymerized into nano dimensional biomaterial, which in its crystalline form is called Crystalline Nano-Cellulose (CNC). CNC has exceptional mechanical properties for bio-composites, biocompatibility to be used as pharmaceutical carriers, and electronic substrate's application. Moreover, the sorption and desorption isotherms of CNC make them highly suitable for applications like atmospheric water absorption systems and 4D printing (shape transforming 3D printed) systems. Depending on the biomass and the extraction technique used different categories of nanocellulose, such as cellulose nanofibrils, cellulose nanocrystals, and bacterial cellulose can be produced and they differ in terms of their dimensions and morphologies, exist. These key properties are of critical importance for ensuring the end-use of the isolated nanocellulose. However, the entangled biomass ultrastructure consists of inherent properties, such as strong lignin layers, low cellulose accessibility to chemicals, and high cellulose crystallinity, which inhibit the digestibility of the biomass for cellulose extraction. Multistep biorefinery processes are necessary to ensure the deconstruction of non-cellulosic content in lignocellulosic biomass while maintaining cellulose product for further hydrolysis into nanocellulose material. Reengineering bioprocessing of lignocellulosic biomass into nanocellulose via chemical, and novel catalytic approaches including catalyst designing improve the energy efficiency of the process while enabling novel high-value applications of CNC. Therefore, this research will focus on characterizing the biomass, quantifying the CNC yield as well as performing a quality assessment of the same and develop a novel microwave assisted extraction techniques to efficiently extract the CNC from different plant matrices.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
34%
Applied
33%
Developmental
33%
Goals / Objectives
1. To extract CNC from multiple forest biomass including hardwood and softwood as well as semi-decaying wood2. Assess and compare the quality characteristics of the CNC thus obtained using FTIR and NMR.3. Optimize the microwave assisted extraction process for extracting CNC from forest biomass.
Project Methods
Klason lignin contentKlason lignin will be investigated using Viera et al.-developed method [26], with some modifications. 1 gram of Lignocellulosic biomass will be subjected into round bottomed flask 100 mL, and then added 7.5 mL sulfuric acid 72% under stirring in the room temperature for 1 hour. After previous treatment, the solution will be diluted with 280 mL distilled water. In addition, the system will be stand for residue precipitation, next it will be filtered and then washed with 250 mL distilled water. The product will be dried in the vacuum freeze-dry, weighed and analyzed by FTIR.Holocellulose contentHolocellulose will be also investigated using the following procedure. 2.5 g of Lignocellulosic biomass will be added to 125 mL beaker, containing 0.75 g of sodium chlorate (NaClO3), 0. 5 mL glacial acetic acid, 50 mL of distilled water will be added and the collision will be agitated until chlorate homogenized. The mixture will then be heated and stirred at 75C for 1 h. Each 1 hour for a total duration time of 3 h, the reagents added into beaker containing mixture. The mixture will be subjected into ice water and next filtered. The bright product will be washed with ethanol and dried in the vacuum freeze dry, weighed and FTIR analyzed.Extraction of celluloseThe ratio of the Lignocellulosic Biomass and 2% NaOH solution is 1: 20 (m/v). Microwave reactor settings will power: 10 watts/g, 15 watts/g and 20 w/g. Extraction temperatures will be: 50C, 60 C and 70 C and time variations: 10, 20, 30 and 40 minutes. The product of the NaOH treatment, separated from the mixture with 2% NaOH, will be neutralized with aquadest, followed by ethanol. The separated product will be dried in vacuum freeze dry and then weighed.Alkaline treated products will then be bleached by green bleaching agent H2O2 using heating with microwave. Similar power density, time and temperature variations used in the alkaline hydrolysis will be performed for this stage. The bleached product will be separated from the mixture using a glass filter, and then neutralized with distilled water until the odor of the bleaching agent removed, then again will be heated with ethanol, so that the bleaching product can be terminated by water disturbance. The filtered product will then be freeze dried and after drying it will be milled again and weighed.Planned student training activities:The Graduate (Master's) Student in this project will be involved in a variety of activities, including quarterly seminars, peer mentoring groups, academic advisement, and career and professional development. It is our intent that these activities serve to build academic proficiency and awareness of career paths in forestry and relation disciplines, and to prepare students professionally for internships, interviews and potential permanent employment.Quarterly Seminars: The Graduate Student will be presenting a quarterly seminar during Home-BSE (student club) meetings in presence of other BSE faculty members as well as committee members.Progression: As part of the progression effort, the PIs will monitor student performance as they matriculate through their courses at FAMU. This will be accomplished through one-on-one academic advisement at the beginning of each semester, evaluation of student performance mid-semester via student progress reports, and evaluation and assessment of student outcomes via final grade reports.Employment: The project will continue to expose the student to opportunities designed to prepare them to work in the forest service and related industries after completion of the degree, such as corporate visits to industries, participation in workshops on how to better prepare yourself professionally (such as developing interviewing skills, preparing a resume, etc.).Scholar internships: The project will help students connected with industry and government by using scholar internships.Networking: The student will be encouraged to present the research outcomes in professional conference and meeting (e.g. annual FFWRP, American Society of Agricultural & Biological Engineers Annual International Meeting) thereby presenting him/her with several opportunities to interact with like-minded researchers.