Precision Lignocellulosic Biorefinery: Process Regulation From Corn Stover to Products
Source: PubMed Central Open Access, NCBI / U.S. National Library of Medicine
ABSTRACT Lignocellulosic biorefinery constitutes a critical pillar for transitioning the fossil‐based industrial paradigm toward sustainability. However, in lignocellulosic biorefinery, cross‐interference between cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin persists throughout all steps. Effective regulation must extend beyond pretreatment across the entire process. Here, we develop a whole‐process regulation strategy for corn stover. Mechanical fractionation homogenizes physical structure, yielding parenchyma‐rich short fibers and vascular‐bundle‐dominant long fibers. For highly degradable short fibers, molecular control by methanol during steam explosion suppresses lignin condensation, followed by oxidative enhancement by carbon quantum dots during enzymatic hydrolysis, boosting cellulose conversion and facilitating mild lignin depolymerization for high‐performance epoxy resins. For high‐crystallinity long fibers, two‐stage selective enzymatic hydrolysis preserves crystallinity to produce cellulose nanocrystals. Techno‐economic analysis shows a 36.7% revenue increase over the unregulated baseline. This integrated approach embodies the concept of precision biorefinery: a transformative framework where whole‐process regulation orchestrates multi‐level heterogeneity‐guided fractionation to enable full‐component directed valorization, ensuring compatibility between biomass attributes, process, and product specifications. The concept and innovations have been industrially validated. Thi
Abstract
ABSTRACT Lignocellulosic biorefinery constitutes a critical pillar for transitioning the fossil‐based industrial paradigm toward sustainability. However, in lignocellulosic biorefinery, cross‐interference between cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin persists throughout all steps. Effective regulation must extend beyond pretreatment across the entire process. Here, we develop a whole‐process regulation strategy for corn stover. Mechanical fractionation homogenizes physical structure, yielding parenchyma‐rich short fibers and vascular‐bundle‐dominant long fibers. For highly degradable short fibers, molecular control by methanol during steam explosion suppresses lignin condensation, followed by oxidative enhancement by carbon quantum dots during enzymatic hydrolysis, boosting cellulose conversion and facilitating mild lignin depolymerization for high‐performance epoxy resins. For high‐crystallinity long fibers, two‐stage selective enzymatic hydrolysis preserves crystallinity to produce cellulose nanocrystals. Techno‐economic analysis shows a 36.7% revenue increase over the unregulated baseline. This integrated approach embodies the concept of precision biorefinery: a transformative framework where whole‐process regulation orchestrates multi‐level heterogeneity‐guided fractionation to enable full‐component directed valorization, ensuring compatibility between biomass attributes, process, and product specifications. The concept and innovations have been industrially validated. This study presents a precision biorefinery framework that transforms corn stover into high‐value bioproducts through whole‐process regulation. Mechanical fractionation separates feedstock into parenchyma‐rich short fibers and vascular‐bundle‐dominant long fibers. For short fibers, methanol‐protected steam explosion and CQDs‐enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis preserve lignin reactivity. For long fibers, two‐stage enzymatic hydrolysis produces cellulose nanocrystals. This strategy ensures component‐specific valorization, achieving 36.7% revenue increase. advs75391-abs-0001 graphical