Endo-Exoglucanase Synergism for Cellulose Nanofibril Production Assessment and Characterization

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Biotechnology
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) offer advanced material properties.
• Efficient production methods are crucial for industrial applications.
• Enzymatic hydrolysis is a promising route for CNF synthesis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To optimize the production of cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) from kraft cellulose pulp.
• To investigate the synergistic effects of enzyme blends on CNF properties.
• To determine the optimal conditions for maximizing CNF crystallinity.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a centroid simplex mixture design and central composite rotational design (CCRD) for process optimization.
• Employed an enzyme blend of 69% endoglucanase and 31% exoglucanase.
• Characterized CNF using X-ray diffraction (XRD) for crystallinity index (CrI) and electron microscopy for diameter analysis.

Main Results:

• Achieved a high crystallinity index (CrI) of 80.87% for CNF.
• Optimized solid loading at 15 g/L and enzyme loading at 0.974.
• Reduced CNF average diameter to 250-300 nm with ultrasonic dispersion, compared to 550-600 nm without.
• Demonstrated synergistic enzyme interactions with Colby factor values > 1.

Conclusions:

• Enzymatic hydrolysis combined with ultrasonic dispersion is effective for producing high-crystallinity CNF.
• The optimized process parameters enhance CNF properties.
• Synergistic enzyme action plays a key role in efficient nanocellulose production.