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Updated: May 23, 2026
Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass with Low-cost Ionic Liquids
Published on: August 10, 2016
Visible-light-assisted ionic liquid system for fractionating corn stalk at low temperature
Jing Yao1, Hong Yan2, Junli Xu3
1School of Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150040, Heilongjiang, China; Center of Ionic Liquids and Green Energy, Beijing Key Laboratory of Solid State Battery and Energy Storage Process, State Key Laboratory of Mesoscience and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
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Efficient fractionation of lignocellulosic components is essential for sustainable biomass valorization. Herein, a visible-light-assisted ionic liquid (IL) composite system composed of 30% 2-hydroxy-N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-N-methylethanaminium methanesulfonate ([BHEM]mesy) and 70% ethylene glycol, containing 0.1 wt% photocatalyst g-C3N4, was developed to achieve low temperature photothermal fractionation of corn stalk. The IL provides protonic sites and hydrogen-bonding capability for lignin solubilization, while the dispersed photocatalyst absorbs light energy to accelerate mass transfer and enhance solvation selectivity between lignin and cellulose. Under the optimized conditions (80 ℃, 4 h), 83.03% of lignin is removed while 84.68% of cellulose is retained. The regenerated lignin exhibits reduced molecular weight, while the purified cellulose phase enables aerogel fabrication. Compared to conventional hydrothermal pretreatment, visible-light coupling enhances the pretreatment process, reduces the reaction temperature and maintains cellulose crystallinity, confirming its superior pretreatment efficiency. This study establishes an integrated photothermal biomass fractionation strategy that offers a novel and highly efficient method for biomass utilization.
