A mechano-enzymatic method to produce nano/microcellulose with ancestral endoglucanase. A comparative study

Given the abundance of cellulose and the potential of nano/microcellulose, here in this work we analyze the prospects of five cellulosic sources for obtaining nano/microcellulose. We assess the impact of three different enzymes (ancestral reconstructed endoglucanase, cellulase and α-amylase) on a mechano-enzymatic process. The characterization of the resulting material has been carried out using spectroscopic, diffraction, thermal and morphological techniques. The results indicate that enzymatic extraction slightly contributes to the increase in nano/microcellulose extraction efficiency, reaching ∼12.5% with endoglucanase, which is higher than the ∼8% achieved without the enzyme, increases the degree of crystallinity of the sample without altering the structure and chemical composition and hardly decreases the crystallite size. These findings contribute to understanding the role of enzyme technology in the development of novel sustainable cellulose based materials, when pursuing economic and environmental benefits.