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Extraction of xylo-oligosaccharides and carboxylated cellulose nanocrystals from corncob using stepwise treatment
Qinghan Zeng1, Jiangrong Ma1, Tong Liu1
1National Key Laboratory for the Development and Utilization of Forest Food Resources, Co-Innovation Center for Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, PR China.
Abstract:
An innovative two-step ammonium persulfate (APS) process for corncob was proposed, utilizing the acidity of APS to produce xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS) and its oxidizing capability to generate carboxylated cellulose nanocrystals (cCNCs). Treatment with 0.5 % APS at 150 °C for 90 min resulted in a maximum XOS yield of 40.86 %. Direct oxidation of pretreated solid residue with 2 M APS at 60 °C for 16 h led to a low cCNCs yield. However, mild alkaline incubation prior to APS oxidation (1 M, 60 °C, 16 h) effectively removed lignin, increasing the cCNCs yield to 38.30 g/100 g cellulose in untreated corncob with an enhanced cCNCs yield of 35.24 %. Detailed characterization of the cCNCs showed excellent performance. Mass balance results indicated that 1000 g of corncob produced 123.48 g of XOS, and 136.16 g of cCNCs. Thus, this study presents a case for the development and utilization of acidic oxidants.
