Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Straw cellulose'

Agricultural waste is of particularly interest due to abudant, cheap, widely available worldwide and renewable material. It represent a good option for wood sources substitution, containing similar in chemical and physical characteristics. The present Doctoral Thesis studies the possibility of substituting wood sources by crop residues and replacing synthetic binders by natural adhesives in fiberboard production. Corn and rice biomass were selected as raw materials, followed by thermo-mechanical pulping (TMP) pretreatment. Fiberboards made of TMP of both crop residues without any binder presented lower mechanical properties than commercial ones (which contained synthetic binder). In term of physical properties, lower water absorption and thickness swelling were found for the fiberboards made of crop residues than for the commercial one. Overall, the present study shows a more sustainable and effective way of producing cellulose-based fiberboards without aid of any synthetic binder, contributing thus to both technical and environmental aspects of fiberboard manufacturing
Els residus agrícoles tenen un gran interès per ser un material abundant , barat, àmpliament disponible a tot el món i renovable. Es tracta d'una bona opció per substituir la fusta, i presenta característiques físiques i químiques similars a aquesta. La present tesi doctoral estudia la possibilitat de substituir la fusta i els aglutinants sintètics per residus de cultius i adhesius naturals respectivament en la producció panell de fibres. La biomassa de blat de moro i arròs sotmesa a un tractament termomecànic (TMP)es va seleccionar com a matèria primera. El panell de fibra resultant d'ambdós residus sense cap tipus d'aglutinant presentaven propietats mecàniques més baixes que els panells comercials (que contenien un lligant sintètic). Respecte a les propietats físiques, es va observar un augment de volum i espessor al absorbir aigua menors en el panell de fibres naturals que no pas en els comercials. En general, el present estudi mostra una forma més sostenible i efectiva de produir panells de fibra a base de cel·lulosa sense utilitzar aglutinant sintètic, fet que contribueix a la millora d’aspectes tècnics i ambientals en el procés de fabricació dels panells de fibra

Den ökande efterfrågan på energi och den förväntade nedgången i råoljeproduktion har lett till ett enormt sökande efter nya energikällor.Cellväggen i växter består till stor del av lignocellulosa som i sin tur innehåller cellulosa och hemicellulosa. Dessa polysackarider är av stor betydelse för sökandet efter förnyelsebar energi.Cellväggen måste förbehandlas innan den kan brytas ner till enkla sockerarter. Efter nedbrytning kan monosackariderna användas till produktion av etanol eller biogas genom väl etablerade fermenteringstekniker. Syftet med denna studie var att jämföra och utvärdera några metoder som används vid degradering av lignocellulosa. Tre behandlingar har jämfört för att se vilken som ger mest avkastning i form av monosackarider. Vetehalm användes som substrat och hydrolyseras med hjälp av tre kommersiella enzymblandningar. Proverna förbehandlades före den enzymatiska reaktionen med antingen mikrovågor eller ångexplosion.Resultaten visade att en behandling med mikrovågsbestrålning eller ångexplosion kombinerad med enzymhydrolys gav högst avkastning. De slutsatser som kan dras är att en mekanisk förbehandling ökar utbytet drastiskt men är otillräcklig i sig. Ytterligare enzymatisk behandling är nödvändig att erhålla större mängder enkla sockerarter från lignocellulosa.
The increasing energy demand and the anticipated decline in crude oil production has led to an immense search for new energy sources. Plant cell walls contain lignocellulose that conserve great amounts of energy. These polysaccharides are of high importance for the search of renewable energy sources. Pretreatment of the cell wall is necessary in order to hydrolyse it to its component sugars. Once degraded to monomeric sugars it can be fermented to either ethanol or biogas through established fermentation technologies.The aim of this thesis was to compare and evaluate some of the methods used for sacchrification of lignocellulose. Three treatments where compared to determine which is highest yielding. These are enzymatic hydrolysis, microwave irradiation and steam explosion.Wheat straw was used as substrate and hydrolysed by three commercial enzyme mixtures. Samples were pretreated before the enzymatic reaction with either microwave or steam explosion. Results showed that a treatment of either microwave irradiation or steam explosion combined with enzyme hydrolysis gives the highest yield in monomeric sugars. The conclusions that can be drawn are that mechanical pretreatment increases yield drastically but is insufficient in its self. Further enzymatic treatment of wheat straw is necessary to obtain high amounts of simple sugars.

Abstract New methods are being sought for the production of chemicals, fuels and energy from renewable biomass. Lignocellulosic biomass consists mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Cellulose and hemicellulose can be converted to their building blocks, i.e. sugars, via hydrolysis. This thesis is focused on glucose production from cellulose by dilute acid hydrolysis. Acid hydrolysis has the drawback of limited glucose yields, but it has the potential to become a short-term solution for biochemical production. During acid hydrolysis, the cellulose chain is split into glucose, which undergoes further decomposition reactions to hydroxymethylfurfural, levulinic acid, formic acid and by-products like insoluble humins. The present thesis aims to increase our knowledge on complicated acid-catalysed hydrolysis of cellulose. Glucose decomposition and cellulose hydrolysis were studied independently in laboratory experiments. Kinetic modelling was used as a tool to evaluate the results. The effect of the hydrogen ion on the reactions was evaluated using formic or sulphuric acid as a catalyst. This thesis provides new knowledge of cellulose hydrolysis and glucose decomposition in formic acid, a novel catalyst for high-temperature dilute acid hydrolysis. Glucose yields from cellulose hydrolysed in formic or in sulphuric acid were comparable, indicating that a weak organic acid could function as a cellulose hydrolysis catalyst. Biomass fibres in the form of wheat straw pulp were hydrolysed more selectively to glucose than a model component, microcrystalline cellulose, using formic acid. Glucose decomposition took place similarly in formic and sulphuric acid when the temperature dependence of the hydrogen ion concentration was taken into account, but a significant difference was found between the reaction rates of cellulose hydrolysis in formic acid and in sulphuric acid. The observations can be explained by changes in the cellulose hydrolysis mechanism. Thus, it is proposed in this thesis that side-reactions from cellulose to non-glucose compounds have a more significant role in the system than has earlier been understood
Tiivistelmä Uusia menetelmiä etsitään kemikaalien, polttoaineiden ja energian valmistamiseen uusiutuvasta biomassasta. Eräs biomassa, ns. lignoselluloosa, koostuu pääasiassa selluloosasta, hemiselluloosasta ja ligniinistä. Selluloosa ja hemiselluloosa voidaan muuttaa hydrolyysin avulla niiden rakennuspalikoikseen eli sokereiksi. Tämä väitöskirja keskittyy glukoosin tuottamiseen selluloosasta laimean happohydrolyysin menetelmällä. Happohydrolyysi kärsii rajoittuneesta glukoosin saannosta, mutta sillä on potentiaalia tulla lyhyen aikavälin ratkaisuksi biokemikaalien tuotannossa. Happohydrolyysin aikana selluloosaketju pilkkoutuu glukoosiksi, joka reagoi edelleen hajoamisreaktioiden kautta hydroksimetyylifurfuraaliksi, levuliini- ja muurahaishapoiksi ja kiinteäksi sivutuotteeksi. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on kasvattaa ymmärrystämme monimutkaisesta happokatalysoidusta selluloosan hydrolyysistä. Glukoosin hajoamista ja selluloosan hydrolyysiä tutkittiin erikseen laboratoriokokein. Kineettistä mallinnusta käytettiin työkaluna arvioimaan tuloksia. Vety-ionien vaikutus reaktioihin arvioitiin käyttämällä muurahais- ja rikkihappoja katalyytteinä. Tämä väitöskirja antaa uutta tietoa selluloosan hydrolyysistä ja glukoosin hajoamisreaktioista muurahaishapossa, joka on uusi katalyytti korkean lämpötilan laimean hapon hydrolyysissä. Glukoosisaannot muurahaishappo-hydrolysoidusta selluloosasta olivat vertailukelpoisia vastaaviin rikkihappo-hydrolyysi saantoihin. Tämä viittaa siihen, että heikko orgaaninen happo voisi toimia selluloosahydrolyysin katalyyttinä. Kun katalyyttinä käytettiin muurahaishappoa, vehnän oljesta tehdyt kuidut hydrolysoituivat selektiivisemmin glukoosiksi kuin mallikomponenttina toimineen mikrokiteisen selluloosan. Kun vetyionikonsentraation lämpötilariippuvuus otettiin huomioon, glukoosi hajosi samalla tavalla sekä muurahais- että rikkihappokatalyytissä, mutta merkittävä ero havaittiin selluloosahydrolyysin reaktionopeudessa. Havainnot voidaan selittää selluloosahydrolyysin mekanismissa tapahtuvilla muutoksilla. Väitöskirjassa esitetään, että sivureaktioilla selluloosasta ei-glukoosi-tuotteiksi on merkittävä vaikutus systeemiin

Clay building components are nowadays one of the most used building materials in the world. Except easy availability and processability clay building components have also heat storage function. This master´s thesis will be considering possibilities of improving thermal and mechanic properties of these materils by additing suitable reinforcements.

Актуальність теми. Розширення сировинної бази целюлозно-паперової галузі України за рахунок використання целюлози з відходів сільського господарства. Виробництво сигаретного паперу та забезпечення стабільності його якості шляхом використання новітніх досягнень в паперовому виробництві та сучасних технологій одержання целюлози. Мета і задачі дослідження. Метою дисертаційної роботи є вивчення особливостей сигаретного паперу та вдосконалення технології його виробництва для підвищення якості продукції. Для досягнення вказаної мети було поставлено наступні задачі: - ознайомлення з властивостями сигаретного паперу; - одержати солом'яну целюлозу окисно-органосольвентним способом делігніфікації та дослідити її паперотворні властивості; - вдосконалити технологічний процес виробництва сигаретного паперу; - вибрати і розрахувати основне технологічне обладнання. - провести аналіз потенціалу даної роботи до використання у стартапі. Об’єкт дослідження: процеси одержання соломяної целюлози та виготовлення сигаретного паперу. Предмет дослідження: технологічні параметри процесу делігніфікації січки пшеничної соломи, параметри процесів формування, пресування, проклеювання і сушіння паперового полотна. Методи дослідження: для визначення впливу технологічних параметрів одержання целюлози використовували хімічні, фізико-хімічні та фізико-механічні методи аналізу. Обгрунтування іноваційних рішень в технологічному потоці базувалося на теоретичних методах аналізу. Практичне значення одержаних результатів: запропонований технологічний потік з виробництва виробництва сигаретного паперу з використанням соломяної целюлози дозволить покращити якість готової продукції та зменшити її собівартість. Апробація результатів дисертації: Основні положення дисертаційної роботи доповідалися та обговорювалися на міжнародній закордонній конференції IV international scien-tific and practical conference The world of scitnce and innovation, London, United Kingdom, 11-13 november, 2020 р.
Theme actuality. Expansion of the raw material base of the pulp and paper industry of Ukraine due to the use of pulp from agricultural waste. Production of cigarette paper and ensuring the stability of its quality through the use of the latest advances in paper production and modern technologies for pulp production. The purpose and objectives of the study. The purpose of the dissertation is to study the features of cigarette paper and improve the technology of its production to improve product quality. To achieve the goal, you need to solve the following tasks: - acquaintance with the properties of cigarette paper; - to obtain straw cellulose by oxidative-organosolvent method of delignification and to investigate its paper-forming properties; - to improve the technological process of cigarette paper production; - select and calculate the main technological equipment. - to analyze the potential of this work for use in startups. Object of study: the process of making document paper. Subject of study: processes of production of straw cellulose and production of cigarette paper. Methods of study: technological parameters of the process of delignification of wheat straw chips, parameters of the processes of forming, pressing, gluing and drying of paper web. The practical value of the obtained results: the proposed technological stream for the production of cigarette paper with the use of straw pulp will improve the quality of finished products and reduce its cost. Approval of the thesis results: The main provisions of the dissertation were reported and discussed at the international international conference IV international scien-tific and practical conference. The world of science and innovation, London, United Kingdom, 11-13 November, 2020.

A necessidade de desenvolver novos materiais que atendam aos aspectos econômicos e ambientais leva à busca de se fazer uso dos recursos naturais para várias aplicações tecnológicas. Assim, o desenvolvimento de materiais compósitos poliméricos utilizando fibras naturais como reforço é crescente, e vem ocupando novos segmentos de mercado, devido ao baixo custo das fibras, biodegradabilidade, menor densidade e boas propriedades mecânicas. Este trabalho teve como objetivo a separação dos principais componentes da palha e do bagaço de cana-de-açúcar para a obtenção de insumos químicos com maior valor econômico, sendo proposta a obtenção e caracterização da celulose, que será utilizada como reforço, e da lignina que atuará como agente compatibilizante em compósitos poliméricos. Para alcançar os objetivos propostos no projeto, foi realizado o pré-tratamento por ácido diluído da palha e do bagaço de cana-deaçúcar, seguido de uma etapa de deslignificação com NaOH. As polpas de bagaço e de palha foram submetidas a um pré-branqueamento com xilanase e a um branqueamento composto de extração alcalina, quelação com EDTA e tratamento com peróxido de hidrogênio. O licor negro foi acidificado para que as ligninas precipitassem. Após lavagem, secagem e maceração, as ligninas obtidas foram submetidas ou não à oxidação química em meio ácido com peróxido de hidrogênio. Além da caracterização química das frações a cada etapa do processamento, foram determinados o número Kappa, viscosidade, e também foram feitas medidas de DRX e MEV. A confirmação e extensão da reação de oxidação das ligninas foi avaliada por RMN, FTIR, MEV e TGA/DSC. Os compósitos foram obtidos por mistura em homogeneizador termocinético de alta intensidade e, depois de injetados, caracterizados por ensaios mecânicos, análises térmicas, microscopia, FTIR, medidas de ângulo de contato e energias de superfície, absorção de água e sorção dinâmica de vapor. Os resultados obtidos por meio da caracterização química, número Kappa e viscosidade indicaram expressiva remoção de hemiceluloses e de lignina durante todas as etapas de obtenção da celulose branqueada, tanto de bagaço quanto de palha, mas também houve significativa perda de celulose. Os resultados de DRX mostraram significativa diminuição da cristalinidade da celulose, para as duas biomassas estudadas. Os resultados de FTIR e RMN confirmaram a mudança na estrutura das ligninas após a oxidação. O tempo de mistura dos compósitos variou com a composição e/ou presença ou não de lignina/lignina oxidada. Nas análises de TGA observou-se que os compósitos PP/celulose sem a adição de lignina/lignina oxidada apresentaram temperatura inicial de decomposição menor do que os compósitos nos quais utilizou-se a lignina como aditivo. As curvas de DSC dos compósitos apresenta perfil e picos de temperatura e entalpias de fusão semelhantes ao PP puro. A lignina não tem notável efeito sobre as propriedades mecânicas dos compósitos, sendo que a melhora nestas propriedades é principalmente devido à incorporação das fibras de celulose. As imagens de MEV para as ligninas mostraram o grande efeito da oxidação sobre a superfície deste material. A análise do ângulo de contato estático para ligninas mostrou que a oxidação produziu um material mais hidrofóbico. As energias de superfície mostraram que os compósitos têm uma superfície mais hidrofóbica do que o PP puro. As curvas de FTIR dos materiais mostraram-se bastante similares, porém as maiores diferenças foram na intensidade das bandas correspondentes aos grupos hidroxila presentes nas fibras e, aos anéis aromáticos da estrutura da lignina. Os resultados DVS mostraram que a absorção de umidade dos compósitos é muito baixa, e corrobora os resultados de absorção de água.
The need of developing new materials that attend economic and environmental aspects leads to the search of using natural resources for various technological applications. Thus, the development of polymeric composite materials using natural fibers as reinforcement is growing, and occupying new market segments, due to the low cost of fibers, biodegradability, low density and good mechanical properties. This work aimed to separate the main components of sugarcane straw and bagasse for obtaining chemical products with higher economic value, it proposes the obtaining and characterization of cellulose, which will be used as a reinforcement, and of the lignin that will act as coupling agent in polymeric composites. To achieve these objectives, it was carried out a dilute acid pretreatment of straw and bagasse of sugar cane, followed by a step of delignification with NaOH. The pulps of bagasse and straw were submitted to a pre-bleaching with xylanase and a bleaching step, composed by an alkaline extraction, EDTA chelation and a treatment with hydrogen peroxide. The black liquor was acidified for the precipitation of the lignins. After washing, drying and milling, the lignins obtained were subjected or not to an oxidation reaction in acid medium with hydrogen peroxide. In addition to the chemical characterization of the fractions at each stage of processing, the Kappa number and viscosity were determined, and it was also made measures of DRX and MEV for bagasse and straw. The confirmation of the oxidation reaction of the lignins was analysed by NMR, FTIR, MEV and TGA/DSC. The composites were obtained by mixing in thermokinetic mixer and once injected, they were characterized by mechanical tests, thermal analysis, microscopy, FTIR, contact angle and surface energies, water absorption and dynamic vapor sorption. The results obtained by the chemical characterization, Kappa number and viscosity indicated a great solubilization of hemicelluloses and lignin during all stages of production of bleached cellulose, both from bagasse and straw, but it was also observed an expressive cellulose loss. The results of DRX showed a great decrease of cellulose crystallinity, for both biomasses, demonstrating that the removal of hemicellulose and lignin affected the structure of cellulose. The FTIR and NMR results confirmed the change in structure of the lignins after oxidation. The mixing time of composites varied with the composition and the presence or absence of lignin/oxidized lignin. From TGA analyses it was observed that the composites PP/cellulose without the addition of oxidized lignin/lignin showed an initial degradation temperature lower than the composites in which lignin was used as an additive. The DSC curves of composites presents profile and temperature peaks and enthalpies of fusion similar to pure PP. Lignin has no remarkable effect on the mechanical properties of the composites, and the improvement in these properties is mainly due to the incorporation of the cellulosic fibers. MEV pictures of lignins showed that the oxidation had a great effect on the surface of this material. From the analysis of the static contact angle for lignins, it was observed that the oxidation produced a more hydrophobic material. The energies of surface showed that the composites have a more hydrophobic surface than the pure PP. FTIR curves of materials were quite similar, however the greatest differences were in the intensity of the bands corresponding to the hydroxyl groups present in the fibers and the aromatic rings of lignin structure. DVS results showed that the moisture absorption of composites is very low, and corroborates the results of water absorption.

La pyrolyse rapide de différents types de celluloses, lignines, xylanes ainsi que de mélanges synthétiques obtenus à partir de ces composés modèles et aussi de deux biomasses réelles (bois de bouleau et paille de blé), est étudiée dans un four à image. Les vitesses de perte de masse pour les composés modèles étudiés sont très différentes, de manière générale la plus grande vitesse de perte de masse est observée pour la cellulose, suivie du xylane et de la lignine. La lignine se distingue par un temps de début de réaction plus petit que celui observé pour le xylane et la cellulose. Pour un temps donné, le rendement en charbon est plus grand pour la lignine que pour le xylane. La formation de charbon à partir de la cellulose est marginale. La cellulose microgranulaire produit en majorité des vapeurs et très peu de gaz. La cellulose extraite du bois de bouleau montre un comportement intermédiaire entre le comportement de la cellulose microgranulaire et les lignines. Le xylane se distingue par une vitesse de formation de gaz supérieure à celles des vapeurs. Les mélanges synthétiques à partir des trois composés modèles montrent un comportement intermédiaire. Le bois de bouleau est plus réactif que la paille de blé et son comportement peut être comparé à celui de la cellulose extraite du bois de bouleau en ce qui concerne les vitesses de perte de masse et de formation de vapeurs. Une corrélation simple se basant sur l’addition pondérée des vitesses de formation des produits est établie et les résultats obtenus sont comparés aux résultats expérimentaux. Il s’avère que les inorganiques jouent un rôle important lors de la pyrolyse : le comportement de la paille de blé, une biomasse riche en inorganiques, ne peut pas être décrit par de telles corrélations. Des écarts moins significatifs entre les valeurs obtenues par les corrélations théoriques et celles provenant des résultats expérimentaux sont observés pour les mélanges synthétiques et le bois de bouleau. En conclusion, l’hypothèse d’une corrélation simple, appelée loi prévisionnelle, ne semble pas être justifiée sur les vitesses de formation de produits. Un modèle est alors développé qui permet de décrire le comportement pyrolytique à l’aide de courbes non linéaires pour la perte de masse et la production des produits. A l’exception de la paille de blé, de nouvelles lois prévisionnelles additives peuvent alors être déterminées de manière très satisfaisante au regard de la précision des mesures expérimentales
The fast pyrolysis of different types of celluloses, lignins, xylanes as well as different mixtures of these basic compounds and two real biomasses (birch wood and wheat straw) has been studied in an image furnace. The mass loss rates of each of the studied model compounds are very different, but usually higher for cellulose than xylane and higher for xylane than lignins. Lignins begin to react before xylane and cellulose. For a given pyrolysis time, lignins produce more char than xylane. Char formation from cellulose remains insignificant, close to zero. Microgranular cellulose gives mainly rise to vapours and very little gas is formed. Cellulose extracted from birch wood shows an intermediate behaviour between microgranular cellulose and lignins. Production rates of gases are higher than those of vapours for xylan. Regarding the mixtures of these three compounds, an intermediate behaviour can be observed. Birch wood is more reactive than wheat straw. Its pyrolytic behaviour is similar with that of cellulose extracted from birch wood with regard to concerning mass loss rates and vapours formation. A simple additive correlation relying on mass loss rates and products formations rates is elaborated and the results compared to the experimental values. It appears that inorganics play an important role in biomass pyrolysis : the pyrolytic behaviour of wheat straw, a biomass which is rich in inorganics, cannot be described by simple additive correlations. Less significant gaps between expected rates obtained by the correlations and the observed rates obtained by the experiments are found for synthetic mixtures and birch wood. In conclusion, the hypothesis of linear correlations cannot be supported for representing the products formations rates. A complete mathematical model is then developed revealing a non-linear behaviour of the variations of mass losses and products formations. Except for wheat straw, new additive correlations are then determined. The agreement with the experimental results is very satisfying with regard to the measurements accuracies

Dans le contexte de la bioraffinerie végétale, notamment pour la production du bioéthanol, le prétraitement est une étape incontournable pour réduire la récalcitrance et accroitre la réactivité de la biomasse lignocellulosique vis-à-vis des procédés de conversion enzymatique/biologique. La récalcitrance est principalement due à la présence de la lignine et à la forme cristalline de la cellulose. Le but de tout prétraitement de la biomasse est d’altérer la structure du matériau lignocellulosique pour accroitre l’accessibilité de la cellulose et les hémicelluloses aux enzymes. Les prétraitements conventionnels, comportent généralement des étapes agressives, utilisant des réactifs nocifs, en exposant la matière à des températures et pressions élevées et ce pour de longues durées. Dans ce travail, nous avons développé un procédé original de délignification des résidus de colza, en combinant des prétraitements physiques (ultrasons (US), microondes (MO) et électrotechnologies (CEP, DEHT)) aux prétraitements chimiques conventionnels (organosolv, alcalin). Ce couplage a permis d’améliorer les performances du procédé en terme de rendement d’extraction des phytomélanines (jusqu’à 40 % de gain) dans le cas des pellicules de colza et de rendement de délignification (plus que 2 fois la performance d’un procédé chimique seul) dans le cas des menues pailles de colza tout en réduisant pour la plupart des technologies étudiées la sévérité du procédé global. En termes qualitatifs, la caractérisation des pâtes cellulosiques par microscopie électronique a révélé des modifications au niveau du tissu végétal représentées par l’apparition de pores au niveau des pellicules de colza et une déstructuration des fibres des menues pailles de colza traitées induisant de meilleurs rendements d’hydrolyse enzymatique.Cependant, une perte des sucres de la cellulose et des hémicelluloses a été observée avec les prétraitements physiques. L’analyse structurale des lignines récupérées a confirmé la contamination par ces sucres et a permis d’identifier certains mécanismes d’action tels que la recondensation de la lignine sous l’effet des ultrasons et le clivage des ponts férulates sous l’action des décharges électriques à haute tension. Une étude préliminaire concernant la conception d’adhésifs «verts » éco-sourcés a été menée à partir des fractions de phytomélanines isolées par les procédés étudiés. Enfin, une étude de l'incidence des technologies innovantes en terme de performances technico-économiques a été réalisée pour permettre d'envisager une éventuelle suite à plus grande échelle et il a été conclu que l’étape physique permettait de réduire l’écart entre les coûts et les revenus de l’implantation d’une telle bioraffinerie
In the context of plant biorefinery, especially for bioethanol production, pretreatment step is important to reduce the recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass and to increase the reactivity towards enzymatic / biological conversion processes. Recalcitrance is mainly due to the presence of lignin and crystalline cellulose. The goal of any pretreatment of biomass is to alter the structure of the lignocellulosic material in order to increase the accessibility of cellulose and hemicellulose to the enzymes. Conventional pretreatments include aggressive steps, using harmful reagents and exposing the material to high temperatures and pressures for long periods. In this work, we developed a new process for delignification of rapeseed residues, combining physical pretreatments (ultrasounds (US), microwaves (MW)) and electrotechnologies (PEF, HVED)) to conventional chemical pretreatments (Organosolv, alkaline). This coupling has improved the process in terms of phytomelanin extraction yield (up to 40 % gain) in the case of rapeseed hulls and delignification efficiency (more than 2 times more efficient than the chemical process performed alone) in the case of rapeseed straw while reducing for most studied technologies the severity of the overall process. Characterization through electron microscopy revealed changes in plant tissue represented by the appearance of pores in the treated rapeseed hulls and fiber breakdown of treated rapeseed straw inducing better enzymatic hydrolysis performance. However, loss of sugars from cellulose and hemicellulose was observed with physical pretreatments. Analysis of the recovered lignins allowed us to observe lignin modifications during physical treatments such as recondension reactions in presence of ultrasounds and cleavage of ferulates bridges with high-voltage electrical discharges. Then the formulation of « eco-sourced » adhesives from phytomélanins extracted by the previous studied processes was attempted. Finally, a study of the impact of innovative technologies in terms of technical and economic performances was carried out to consider a scale-up of these technologies. It was concluded that physical step enhanced the profitability of this biorefinery

O processamento da cana gera vários co-produtos tais como, o bagaço e a palha, sendo esta considerada um dos principais resíduos gerados devido à mecanização da colheita. Assim, a disponibilidade e a composição desse resíduo de cana-de-açúcar têm impulsionado muitas pesquisas para o desenvolvimento de tecnologias que proporcionem o seu aproveitamento efetivo. Este trabalho teve como objetivo a separação dos principais componentes da palha de cana-de-açúcar para a obtenção de insumos químicos com maior valor econômico, sendo proposta a obtenção, caracterização e modificação da celulose desta biomassa vegetal, a ser utilizada na síntese da carboximetilcelulose (CMC) partindo da celulose branqueada por meio da combinação do processo químico com o enzimático, utilizando xilanase. Foi também avaliada a influência nas propriedades mecânicas, termogravimétricas e morfológicas das poliuretanas, ao adicionar-se celulose a esses polímeros obtidos a partir de óleo de mamona (Ricinus communis L.). A palha de cana foi pré-tratada por explosão a vapor e submetida à deslignificação alcalina. Foi realizado, posteriormente, o tratamento utilizando-se xilanase e então, a polpa foi branqueada com peróxido de hidrogênio. A polpa branqueada obtida foi utilizada para obtenção de CMC. Foi determinado o ganho de massa após a reação de obtenção e o grau de substituição da CMC obtida. A polpa deslignificada (celulose) foi utilizada como reforço para obtenção de biocompósitos com poliuretana obtida a partir do óleo de mamona. Os biocompósitos obtidos foram analisados por calorimetria exploratória diferencial (DSC), termogravimetria (TGA), foram determinadas as propriedades mecânicas, microscopia eletrônica de varredura e estudo de absorção de água. A adição de fibras de palha em matriz de PU de óleo de mamona melhorou as propriedades mecânicas comparado à matriz pura, e uma possível redução no custo sugere uma aplicação industrial do produto final.
The sugarcane processing generates various agricultural byproducts such as bagasse and straw, which is considered one of the main waste generated due to the mechanization of the harvest in Brazil. Thus, the availability and composition of sugarcane straw have driven a great effort to develop technologies that provide its effective utilization. This study aimed to separate the main components of sugarcane straw to obtain chemical products with higher economic value, and the proposed obtainment is the modification and characterization of cellulose biomass to be used in the synthesis of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) based on the bleached pulp through a combination of chemical process with the enzyme, using xylanase. It was also studied the influence in mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of polyurethane obtained from castor oil (Ricinus Communis L.) reinforced composites. Sugarcane straw was pretreated by steam explosion, delignified, treated with xylanase and bleached with hydrogen peroxide. The bleached cellulose obtained was used to produce CMC. It was determined the mass gain and the degree of substitution of the obtained CMC. The delignified pulp (cellulose) was used as reinforcement in composites of polyurethane obtained from castor oil. The biocomposites were analysed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry (TGA), and it was also determined the mechanical properties, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and water absorption. The incorporation of sugarcane straw fibers in the polyurethane matrix improved the mechanical properties compared with the pure matrix, and a possible reduction in the costs of production suggests a industrial application of the material.

It is likely that a combination of process improvement and plant breeding will be needed to make efficient use of biomass. To achieve this, the main bottlenecks to decomposition must be identified and strategies developed to make the process more efficient. Here, the likely process and genotypic variants relevant to saccharification efficiency of Brassica napus straw were investigated using steam explosion. Screening methods were developed to gather suitable data for association mapping. Areas of the B. napus transcriptome related to processing traits were highlighted and assessed. The results show that autocatalytic pretreatments are effective, but commercial cellulases are poorly adapted to hydrolyse Brassica napus straw. Following pretreatment, saccharification was limited by uronic acids and xylose retention, which impeded cellulase performance. Surprisingly, lignin abundance correlated positively with the proportion of rapidly hydrolysable carbohydrate in the pretreated residues. Cultivars with glucan-rich straw did not necessarily produce higher saccharification or ethanol yields. Instead, variations in the non-cellulosic components were the most important differences between cultivars. Smaller scale methods were developed and rational conditions selected for screening In total, seventy-seven straw accessions were processed using four conditions which allowed processing/genotype interactions to be explored. Cultivars that produced more acetic and formic acid using suboptimal pretreatment conditions obtained higher glucose yields. Associated areas of the transcriptome suggested that genes involved in sugar nucleotide provisioning, the endogenous hydrolysis of cellulose and non-cellulosic polysaccharide synthesis were related to saccharification yields. Candidate genes aid in the development of testable hypotheses related to biomass recalcitrance and provides specific targets to conduct experiments, but molecular markers were sensitive to agronomic conditions. Arabidopsis plants deficient in a selection of candidate genes revealed subtle changes in saccharification performance. Result from this work could be the first steps towards deducing the genetic determinants of biomass recalcitrance, paving the way for further research.

The waste from agricultural and food industry are accessible in large quantity anywhere in the whole world nowadays. Most of these wastes include cellulose (30 - 40 %), hemicellulose (20 - 40 %) and lignine (10 - 20 %). Therefore these waste materials have wide use as the substrates for the microbial growth and the production of the enzymes. The microorganisms are able to use organic compounds from the wastes as the source of energy for the growth and carbon for synthesis of cellular biomass [24]. Wheat and rice straw are possible to use as the substrates for cultivation of the microorganisms and following production of the enzymes. In this thesis the utilization of the wastes from food industry for the production of the enzymes by the microorganisms was studied. We observed utilization of wheat straw as source of energy for growth of tested microorganisms and investigated their ability for the production of oxidoreductase (laccase). The optimalization of growth conditions of Aureobasidium pullulans was proceeded. Further the activity of laccase was studied. Milled wheat straw was used as the substrate. The cultivation was done in the thermoregulator at the temperature of 27°C. The activity of laccase was not found in this thesis. Petri dishes were contaminated by three unknown microoganisms during optimalization of growth of Aureobasidium pullulans. One of them produced laccase in cultivation with straw.

La création de nouvelles enzymes pour l’hydrolyse de la biomasse est une stratégie clé pour ledéveloppement du bioraffinage. Dans ce contexte, les xylanases de la famille GH11 sont déjàdéployées dans de nombreux procédés industriels et donc bien positionnées pour jouer un rôleimportant dans ces procédés. La cible de cette étude, la xylanase GH11 (Tx-Xyl) de la bactérieThermobacillus xylanilyticus, est une enzyme thermostable et donc une bonne candidate pour destravaux d’ingénierie visant l’amélioration de son activité sur des substrats ligno-cellulosiques.Dans cette étude, deux stratégies d’ingénierie des enzymes ont été employées afin d’obtenir denouvelles informations portants sur les relations structure-fonction au sein de Tx-Xyl. La premièrestratégie a consisté en l’utilisation d’une approche de mutagenèse aléatoire, couplée à l’emploi deméthodes de recombinaison in vitro. Ces travaux avaient pour objectif d’améliorer la capacitéhydrolytique de Tx-Xyl sur la paille de blé. La deuxième stratégie mise en oeuvre s’est appuyée surune approche semi-rationnelle visant la création d’une enzyme chimérique, qui bénéficierait d’uneamélioration des interactions enzyme-substrat au niveau du sous-site -3.Le premier résultat majeur de cette thèse concerne le développement d’une méthode de criblagequi permet l’analyse à haut débit de banques de mutants pour la détection de variants quiprésentent une activité hydrolytique accrue directement sur paille de blé. A l’aide de ce crible, nousavons pu analyser plusieurs banques de mutants, représentant un total de six générations demutants, et identifier une série de combinaisons de mutations différentes. D’un côté, un variant,comportant deux mutations silencieuses, permet une meilleure expression de Tx-Xyl, alors qued’autres enzymes mutées présentent des modifications intrinsèques de leurs aptitudes catalytiques.Comparés à l’enzyme parentale Tx-Xyl, certains mutants solubilisent davantage les arabinoxylanes dela paille et, lorsqu’ils sont déployés avec un cocktail de cellulases, participent à une réactionsynergique qui permet un accroissement du rendement des pentoses et du glucose libérés.A l’aide d’une approche semi-rationnelle, une séquence de 17 acides aminés en provenance d’unexylanase GH11 fongique a été ajoutée à l’extrémité N-terminale de Tx-Xyl, afin de créer de nouveauxbrins β. L’enzyme chimérique a pu être exprimée avec succès et caractérisée. Néanmoins, l’analysede ses propriétés catalytiques a révélé que celle-ci ne présente pas davantage d’interactions avec sonsubstrat dans le sous-site -3, mais les résultats obtenus fournissent de nombreux renseignements surles relations structure-fonction au sein de l’enzyme. De plus, ces travaux nous permettent depostuler que Tx-Xyl posséderait un site de fixation secondaire pour les xylanes, un élement jusqu’iciinsoupçonné dans cette enzyme. Par ailleurs, l’analyse de nos résultats nous permet de proposer uneexplication rationnelle pour l’échec de notre stratégie initiale
Engineering new and powerful enzymes for biomass hydrolysis is one area that will facilitate thefuture development of biorefining. In this respect, xylanases from family GH11 are already importantindustrial biocatalysts that can contribute to 2nd generation biorefining. The target of this study, theGH11 xylanase (Tx-Xyl) from Thermobacillus xylanilyticus is thermostable, and is thus an interestingtarget for enzyme engineering, aiming at increasing its specific activity on lignocellulosic biomass,such as wheat straw. Nevertheless, the action of xylanases on complex biomass is not yet wellunderstood, and thus the use of a rational engineering approach is not really feasible.In this doctoral study, to gain new insight into structure-function relationships, two enzymeengineering strategies have been deployed. The first concerns the development of a randommutagenesis and in vitro DNA shuffling approach, which was used in order to improve the hydrolyticpotency of Tx-Xyl on wheat straw, while the second strategy consisted in the creation of a chimericenzyme, with the aim of probing and improving -3 subsite binding, and ultimately improvinghydrolytic activity.The first key results that has been obtained is the development of a novel high-throughputscreening method, which was devised in order to reliably pinpoint mutants that can better hydrolyzewheat straw. Using this screening method, several generations of mutant libraries have beenanalyzed and a series of improved enzyme variants have been identified. One mutant, bearing silentmutations, actually leads to higher gene expression, while others have intrinsically altered catalyticproperties. Testing of mutants has shown that some of the enzyme variants can improve thesolubilization of wheat straw arabinoxylans and can work in synergy with cellulose cocktails torelease both pentose sugars and glucose.Using a semi-rational approach, 17 amino acids have been added to the N-terminal of Tx-Xyl, withthe aim of adding two extra β-strands coming from a GH11 fungal xylanase. A chimeric enzyme hasbeen successfully expressed and purified and its catalytic properties have been investigated.Although this approach has failed to create increased -3 subsite binding, the data presented revealsimportant information on structure-function relationships and suggest that Tx-Xyl may possess ahitherto unknown secondary substrate binding site. Moreover, a rational explanation for the failureof the original strategy is proposed

O objetivo deste trabalho foi encontrar os melhores cenários para os vetores energéticos etanol e eletricidade em termos das quantidades disponibilizadas de bagaço e palha para cada processo e da composição de biomassa em uma usina de processamento de cana-de-açúcar. O modelo simulado é abrangente, com otimização multiobjetivo. Com isso, mostrou-se que a biomassa possui características específicas para os conjuntos de vetores de saída próximos ao limite máximo de energia (fronteira de Pareto). Os resultados foram obtidos com a utilização do Método de Monte Carlo para gerar de forma aleatória a combinação das variáveis de interesse como umidade, fibra e outras. A contribuição das variáveis na produção otimizada dos vetores de energia foi avaliada por meio de distribuição de probabilidade e mostrou que a conversão ideal ocorre para altos teores de fibra e pequena umidade. A composição da fibra do bagaço e da palha tem importante papel nas vias de conversão, sendo a lignina a variável de maior impacto. O modelo mostrou que a palha tem papel menos relevante na otimização, possivelmente em função da menor quantidade em que é usada e da menor variabilidade de suas propriedades.
The objective of this work was to find the best scenarios for production of the energy vectors ethanol and electricity from sugarcane bagasse and straw, considering variables as mass flow rate destined to each process, biomass composition and fibers composition in a sugarcane plant. The model is comprehensive with multiobjective optimization and was able to show that biomass has a characteristic set of properties in the vicinity of the maximum limits of energy (Paretos frontier). In order to generate the stochastic variables of interest as humidity, fiber content and fiber properties as well as the amounts of biomass destined to energy and ethanol it was applied the Monte Carlo method. The contribution of each variable to the optimized production of energy vectors was assessed by probability distribution and showed that the ideal conversion occurs for high fiber and low humidity contents. The fiber compositions of the bagasse and straw had a secondary importance on the conversion routes, with lignin playing a prominent role. The model indicated that straw has a less relevant role in the optimization, possibly because it is used in smaller quantities and has a narrower variation of its properties.

Depuis plusieurs années, un nombre conséquent d’études décrivent une augmentation de l’incidence de pathologies liées à la fonction de reproduction masculine. Ces anomalies ont été regroupées sous le terme de « syndrome de dysgénésie testiculaire ». Ce syndrome aurait pour origine les effets délétères de polluants environnementaux sur le développement du testicule en période fœtale. Parmi ces polluants environnementaux, les phtalates et le bisphénol A (BPA) sont les plastifiants les plus produits et les plus répandus dans les objets de consommation courante. De nombreuses études leur sont consacrées et ont permis de les classer au rang de perturbateurs endocriniens en mettant notamment en cause leurs effets reprotoxiques. Mon travail de thèse est une étude des effets de ces deux perturbateurs endocriniens sur le développement du testicule fœtal.Nous avons réalisé une première étude concernant les effets du BPA sur le développement du testicule fœtal. Grâce au modèle de culture organotypique, nous avons développé notre étude dans trois espèces : le rat, la souris et l’Homme. Nous démontrons que le BPA diminue la sécrétion de testostérone dans le testicule fœtal humain à partir d’une concentration de 10-8M, alors que chez le rat et la souris, la sécrétion de testostérone n’est affectée qu’à partir de 10-5M de BPA. Nous avons également démontré une diminution de l’expression du gène de l’Insl-3, dans ces mêmes conditions. Ceci nous a permis de mettre en évidence une différence de sensibilité entre les espèces. Pour tenter de comprendre les mécanismes par lesquels le BPA exerce son effet toxique, nous avons comparé ses effets à ceux du DES, autre perturbateur endocrinien œstrogénomimétique. Contrairement au BPA, le DES diminue la sécrétion de testostérone fœtale chez les rongeurs, et non chez l’Homme. Ce résultat suggère l’implication de deux voies de signalisation différentes pour ces deux xéno-œstrogènes. Cette hypothèse est d’ailleurs renforcée par l’étude que nous avons SourceMécanismes d’action des perturbateurs endocriniens bisphénol A et phtalates sur le développement du testicule fœtal / par Thierry N’Tumba-Byn ; sous la direction de Virginie Rouiller-Fabre, Université Paris Sud, 2013 [Thèse de Biologie de la Reproduction et du Développement]réalisée sur des souris invalidées pour le récepteur des œstrogènes ERα, dans lesquelles l’effet anti-androgénique du BPA persiste, contrairement à celui du DES.Parallèlement, nous avons recherché les mécanismes d’action des phtalates et de leur métabolite actif le plus répandu, le MEHP (mono-2-éthyl-hexyl phtalate). Dans la continuité de plusieurs travaux réalisés dans notre laboratoire sur les effets du MEHP, nous avons tenté de comprendre les mécanismes par lesquels le MEHP induit un effet pro-apoptotique dans les cellules germinales mâles. Nous avons mis en évidence une augmentation de l’expression du gène Stra8 dans les cellules germinales traitées au MEHP. Ce résultat nous suggère que le MEHP pourrait induire une différenciation erronée des cellules germinales mâles. De plus, nous avons recherché les récepteurs et la voie de signalisation activée par le MEHP. Nous observons que les agonistes des récepteurs PPARα et de PPARγ entrainent dans les cellules germinales les mêmes phénotypes que le MEHP, à savoir une augmentation du taux d’apoptose et de l’expression du gène Stra8
For several years, an increase in the incidence of pathologies connected to the male reproductive functions has been described in numerous studies. These anomalies are classified under the term “testicular dysgenesis syndrome”. This syndrome might find its origins in the deleterious effects of environmental pollutants on the testis development in fetal period. Among theses environmental pollutants, phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA) are the most produced plasticizers found in products of common use. Many studies were performed in order to determine their effects, and allowed to classify them as endocrine disruptors because of their reprotoxic effects. My thesis work is a study of the effects of these two endocrine disruptors on the fetal testis development.Our first study focuses on the effects of BPA on the fetal testis development. Using the organotypic culture model, we developed our study in three species: rat, mouse and human. We demonstrated that BPA decreases the testosterone secretion in the human fetal testis from a 10-8M concentration, while in rat and mouse the testosterone secretion is only affected by 10-5M BPA. We also demonstrated a decreased Insl-3 gene expression, in the same conditions. These results allowed us to evidence a difference of sensibility between species. To understand the mechanisms involved in the BPA toxic effect, we compared it with the effect of DES, another endocrine disruptor with estrogenic activity. Unlike BPA, DES decreases the fetal testosterone secretion in rodents and not in human. This result suggests the involvement of two different signalisation pathways for these two xenoestrogens. This hypothesis is reinforced by the study that we performed in mice invalidated for the estrogen receptor ERα. In those mice, the anti-androgenic effect of BPA is maintained, unlike DES effect.In parallel, we investigated the mechanisms of action of phtalates and particularly of their most prevalent active metabolite, the MEHP (mono-2-ethyl-hexyl phthalate). Following previous studies performed in our laboratory concerning the effects of MEHP, we intended to understand the mechanisms by which MEHP induces the apoptosis in male germ cells. We evidenced an increase in Stra8 gene expression in MEHP treated germ cells. This result suggests that MEHP might induce a wrong differentiation in male germ cells. Furthermore, we investigated the receptors and the signalisation pathway activated by MEHP. We observe that PPARα and PPARγ receptors agonists induce the same phenotypes as MEHP, namely an increase in the apoptosis and in Stra8 gene expression in germ cells

Após as crises de petróleo ocorridas no século passado, vários países buscaram o desenvolvimento de novos combustíveis a fim de reduzir a dependência deste recurso natural. O Brasil foi um deles e criou o Programa Nacional do Álcool (Pró-Álcool) para incentivar a produção de etanol. Hoje, mais de 80% da frota nacional de veículos rodam ou somente com etanol ou com a mistura de gasolina e etanol. Para atender a crescente demanda de etanol, sem competir com áreas cultiváveis voltadas para produção de alimentos, fontes de materiais lignocelulósicos podem ser utilizadas com o intuito de se aproveitar a fração celulósica para obtenção de açúcar fermentável. Neste trabalho propôs-se avaliar o efeito de tecnologias de pré-tratamento dos subprodutos sucroalcooleiros (bagaço e palha de cana), seguida ou não de uma etapa de deslignificação, sobre a conversão enzimática da celulose de cada biomassa vegetal. Os materiais lignocelulósicos foram pré-tratados por explosão a vapor (bagaço), impregnação a vapor (palha) e por ultrassom (bagaço e palha). A etapa de pré-tratamento por explosão a vapor foi realizada no reator industrial de 5 m3 sob a condição de 200°C por 7min, das Usinas de Açúcar, Álcool e Biodiesel Vale do Rosário. A etapa de pré-tratamento por impregnação de vapor foi realizada em reator de 20 L sob as condições de 180, 185, 190, 195 °C por 10 min e 190°C por 15 min. Já a etapa de pré-tratamento por ultrassom foi realizada em banho de ultrassom a 55°C por 40 min e radiação de 40 kHz/120W. Os materiais pré-tratados foram deslignificados sob a condição de NaOH 1% (m/v), 100°C por 1h, variando somente o tamanho reator em função da quantidade de biomassa disponível. Para o bagaço explodido a vapor, a deslignificação organosolv também foi testada, variando as condições numa matriz de planejamento L18 de Taguchi. Os ensaios de hidrólise enzimática foram realizados empregando Celluclast 1.5L (15 FPU/g de amostra) e ?-Glucosidase (10 UI/g de amostra). Das três técnicas de pré-tratamento avaliadas (explosão a vapor, impregnação a vapor e ultrassom), somente os métodos baseados em vapor foram eficientes na desagregação dos constituintes dos subprodutos sucroalcooleiros. Esses métodos foram capazes de remover grande parte da hemicelulose (acima de 70%) e uma parte da lignina (<40%), elevando a digestibilidade da celulose pelas enzimas celulolíticas (conversão de 66 a 68%). O método de pré-tratamento com ultrassom provocou o aumento da recalcitrância dos materiais lignocelulósicos tanto para o agente deslignificante (soda cáustica) como para as celulases, sendo, portanto, um método não indicado, dentro da faixa das condições avaliadas, para um processo de conversão dos subprodutos sucroalcooleiros em açúcares fermentáveis. A etapa de deslignificação com soda cáustica foi essencial para elevar a digestibilidade dos materiais lignocelulósicos pré-tratados por explosão a vapor ou com ultrassom. Entretanto, para a palha pré-tratada hidrotermicamente, a etapa de extração alcalina não promoveu um efeito positivo sobre a conversão enzimática de celulose. De forma geral, observou-se que o bagaço de cana apresenta um potencial ligeiramente maior para conversão em açúcares fermentáveis em comparação com a palha de cana.
After the oil crises occurred in the last century, many countries have been to develop new fuels to reduce dependence on this natural resource. Brazil was one of them and created the National Alcohol Program (Pro-álcool) to promote the production of ethanol. Today, more than 80% of the national vehicles run on ethanol or with a mixture of gasoline and ethanol. To supply the growing demand for ethanol, without it to affect the food production farmland, sources of lignocellulosic materials can be used in order to take advantage of the cellulosic fraction for production of fermentable sugar. This work had objective to evaluate the effect of pretreatment technologies of sugarcane byproducts (bagasse and straw), followed or not by a stage of delignification, on the cellulose enzymatic conversion of each biomass. The lignocellulosic materials were pretreated by steam explosion (bagasse), vapor impregnation (straw) and ultrasound (bagasse and straw). The steam explosion pretreatment was carried out in 5 m3 industrial reactor under the condition of 200 °C for 7 min, from Usinas de Açúcar, Álcool e Biodiesel Vale do Rosário. The steam impregnation pretreatment was carried out in 20 L reactor under conditions of 180, 185, 190, 195 °C for 10 min and 190 °C for 15 min. The ultrasound pretreatment was performed in the ultrasonic bath at 55 °C for 40 min and 40 kHz/120W radiation. The pretreated materials were deslignified on condition of 1% (w/v) NaOH, 100 °C for 1 h, using different sizes of reactors due to amount of biomass available. For the steam exploded bagasse, one stage of organosolv delignification was also tested varying the conditions in a L18 Taguchi matrix. The enzymatic hydrolysis tests were performed using Celluclast 1.5L (15 FPU/g of material) and ?-Glucosidase (10 IU/g of material). From three pretreatment techniques evaluated (steam explosion, steam impregnation and ultrasonic), only the vapor-based methods were efficient in the breakdown of the constituents of sugarcane byproducts. These methods were able to remove most of the hemicellulose (above 70%) and a part of the lignin (<40%), increasing the cellulose digestibility by cellulolytic enzymes (conversion 66-68%). The ultrasound pretreatment increases the recalcitrance of lignocellulosic materials both for the caustic soda and for cellulases. Therefore, this pretreatment method is not indicated, within the conditions range assessed, for a conversion process of sugarcane byproducts to fermentable sugars. The delignification stage with caustic soda was essential to increase the digestibility of lignocellulosic materials pretreated by steam explosion or ultrasound. However, for the straw pretreated hydrothermically, the alkaline extraction did not cause a positive effect on the enzymatic conversion of cellulose. Overall, it was observed that sugarcane bagasse has a slightly higher potential for conversion to fermentable sugars in relation to sugarcane straw.

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The rapid expansion of cultivation of sugarcane, essentially held from 2004, in the State of São Paulo, one of the most traditional and well localized of country in terms of logistics and proximity of large consumer centres, as well as in other states not so privileged, raised several discussions about the sustainability of the sector and possible breakthrough in land which, directly or indirectly, would undermine food production in the country. This encouraged the rapid industry organization, through its principal representative, UNICA, which initiated an irreversible process of professionalization and consolidation of large groups with a view to strengthening growth and to meet the challenges of "commoditization" of their products: sugar and ethanol. In this context, after project implementations as the "Green Ethanol Protocol" and "Agro-Envirnomental Zoning for the sugar-alcohol sector of the State of São Paulo" and subsequently "Agro-Ecological Zoning of cane" in Brazil, and dissemination of RFS2 "– Renewable Fuel Standard 2", in the United States, which may be considered key milestones to indicate that the industry must involve, either by socio-environmental, whether through external market growth opportunity (USA), and also without forgetting the growing fleet of vehicles flex-fuel in Brazil, it tries to develops at wide steps, evident that with greater focus and investment in the United States, in order to obtain greater industrial productivity, with the same amount of sugar cane planted area, which would accomplishes the two calls: the sustainability and the opening of the market. The second-generation ethanol is the central subject, and with greater expectation today, to the expected evolution of one of the fastest growing sectors and participation in the Brazilian economy. The laboratory researches demonstrate productive viability for this second-generation ethanol through cellulosic material hydrolysis, but the major problems are related to the absence of plants with commercial production scale, high processing time (enzymatic hydrolysis) and deterioration of equipment involved in the process (hydrolysis), and also the need for better studies to understand the replacement of bagasse to sugar cane trash in the process of electricity generation in the mills. This work showed, besides its limitations and due to the considered parameters, that the economic feasibility of second generation is a little bit far to be achieved and it’s dependent of the future prices of ethanol. The additional 85% (eight five percent) yield of ethanol liters per ton of sugarcane and price of R$ 800 (eight hundred reais) per cubic meters are input data, feasible to be obtained, in thesis, the net income but not the NPV. The incognits are the velocity for large scale production plant development and the prices behavior in face of the analyzed perspectives. In front of the achieved re results and discussion exposed, there are clealy possibilities for self-affirmation of the sector, which after decades of unsuccessful initiatives such as the Proálcool, and critics to their sustainability policies (social and environmental), can have a promising scenario for the perpetuation of its hegemony and avant-garde in the production of biofuel (ethanol), food (sugar) and electric power.
A rápida expansão da cultura da cana-de-açúcar, essencialmente ocorrida a partir de 2004, tanto no Estado de São Paulo, um dos mais tradicionais e mais bem localizado do país, em termos de logística e proximidade de grandes centros consumidores, bem como em outros não tão privilegiados, levantou diversas discussões sobre a sustentabilidade do setor e eventual avanço em terras que, direta e indiretamente, prejudicariam a produção de alimentos no país. Esse evento desencadeou uma rápida reorganização do setor, através de sua principal entidade representativa, a UNICA, e, fundamentalmente, iniciou um processo irreversível de profissionalização e consolidação de grandes grupos com o intuito de crescimento e fortalecimento para fazer frente aos desafios da 'comoditização' integral de seus produtos: o açúcar e o etanol. Nesse âmbito, após implementações de projetos como o 'Protocolo Etanol Verde' e o 'Zoneamento Agroambiental para o Setor Sucroalcooleiro do Estado de São Paulo', e posteriormente o 'Zoneamento Agro-Ecológico da Cana-de-Açúcar', no Brasil, e divulgação da 'RFS2 – Renewable Fuel Standard 2', nos Estados Unidos, os quais podem ser considerados pontos fundamentais para a indicação de que o setor deveria evoluir, seja via sócio-ambiental, ou através da oportunidade de crescimento do mercado externo (EUA), sem esquecer a crescente frota de veículos flex-fuel no Brasil, e tenta evoluir a passos largos, evidentemente que com maior enfoque e investimento tecnológico nos Estados Unidos, no sentido de obter maior produtividade industrial, com a mesma quantidade de área de cana plantada, o que atenderia aos dois apelos: o de sustentabilidade e o de abertura de mercado. O etanol de segunda geração é o assunto central, e de maior expectativa atualmente, para a esperada evolução de um dos setores de maior crescimento e participação na economia brasileira. As pesquisas de laboratório demonstram viabilidade produtiva do etanol de segunda geração, através da hidrólise do material celulósico, mas os grandes problemas estão relacionados à ausência de plantas com escala de produção comercial, elevado tempo de processamento (hidrólise enzimática) e deterioração de equipamentos envolvidos no processo (hidrólise ácida), além da necessidade de melhores estudos, para entendimento da substituição do bagaço pela palha da cana-de-açúcar, no processo de geração de energia elétrica nas unidades industriais. Este trabalho demonstrou, considerando suas limitações e parâmetros, que a viabilidade econômica para o etanol de segunda geração está um pouco distante de ser atingida e depende do preço futuro do etanol. O rendimento adicional de 85% (oitenta e cinco por cento) de litros de etanol, por tonelada de cana processada, e o preço de R$ 800 (oitocentos reais) o metro cúbico, são dados de entrada em tese factíveis de serem obtidos para geração de lucro líquido, mas não para o VPL. As incógnitas são a velocidade do desenvolvimento da planta de grande escala de produção e comportamento de preços diante das perspectivas analisadas. Diante dos resultados obtidos e do exposto, há a clara possibilidade de autoafirmação do setor que, após décadas de insucessos, como o do Proálcool, e críticas às suas políticas de sustentabilidade (sócio-ambiental), vislumbra um cenário promissor para a perpetuação de sua hegemonia e vanguarda na produção de biocombustível (etanol), alimento (açúcar) e energia elétrica.

by Yijin Cai.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1996.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 185-207).
Introduction
Chapter 1.1 --- Biochemistry of cellulose degradation --- p.1
Chapter 1.1.1 --- "Occurrence, distribution and structure of cellulose" --- p.1
Chapter 1.1.2 --- Cellulose-degrading microorganisms --- p.3
Chapter 1.1.2.1 --- Cellulolytic bacteria --- p.4
Chapter 1.1.2.2 --- Cellulolytic fungi --- p.4
Chapter 1.1.3 --- An overview of fungal cellulases --- p.4
Chapter 1.1.3.1 --- Endoglucanase (EG) --- p.7
Chapter 1.1.3.2 --- Cellobiohydrolase (CBH) --- p.16
Chapter 1.1.3.3 --- β-Glucosidase (BGL) --- p.25
Chapter 1.1.4 --- Synergism between the different components of the cellulolytic systems of filamentous fungi --- p.28
Chapter 1.1.5 --- Molecular genetics of cellulases --- p.31
Chapter 1.2 --- Secretion of cellulases by filamentous fungi --- p.32
Chapter 1.2.1. --- Overview of enzyme secretion in filamentous fungi --- p.33
Chapter 1.2.2 --- Glycosylation --- p.35
Chapter 1.2.3 --- Protein secretion and the fungal cell wall --- p.37
Chapter 1.2.4 --- Factors affecting protein secretion --- p.38
Chapter 1.3 --- Volvariella volvacea --- p.39
Chapter 1.4 --- Project aims --- p.43
Materials and methods
Chapter 2.1 --- Organisms and culture conditions --- p.44
Chapter 2.1.1 --- Basal medium --- p.44
Chapter 2.1.2 --- Culture conditions for biomass and enzyme production on different carbon sources --- p.45
Chapter 2.1.3 --- Culture conditions for large-scale enzyme production for purification --- p.45
Chapter 2.1.4 --- Culture conditions for confocal microscopy --- p.46
Chapter 2.1.5 --- Culture conditions for electron microscopy --- p.47
Chapter 2.2 --- Mycelial extracts --- p.47
Chapter 2.2.1 --- Large scale extraction --- p.47
Chapter 2.2.2 --- Small scale extraction --- p.48
Chapter 2.3 --- Enzyme purification --- p.48
Chapter 2.3.1 --- Cell-associated enzymes (β-glucosidases) --- p.48
Chapter 2.3.2 --- Extracellular enzymes --- p.50
Chapter 2.3.2.1 --- Purification of cellulase complex --- p.50
Chapter 2.3.2.2 --- Purification of CBH --- p.51
Chapter 2.3.2.3 --- Purification of endoglucanase-III --- p.53
Chapter 2.3.2.4 --- Partial purification of β-glucosidases --- p.55
Chapter 2.3.3 --- Other purification methods --- p.56
Chapter 2.3.3.1 --- FPLC Phenylsuperose hydrophobic interaction chromatography --- p.56
Chapter 2.3.3.2 --- Affinity gel chromatography --- p.56
Chapter 2.3.3.3 --- Isoelectric focusing by Rotorfor --- p.57
Chapter 2.3.3.4 --- Preparative gel electrophoresis --- p.57
Chapter 2.3.3.5 --- (NH4)2S04 Precipitation --- p.58
Chapter 2.4 --- Electrophoresis --- p.59
Chapter 2.4.1 --- Mini Protean-II system (BioRad) --- p.59
Chapter 2.4.2 --- PhastGel system (Pharmacia) --- p.60
Chapter 2.5 --- Enzyme assays --- p.61
Chapter 2.5.1 --- β-Glucosidase --- p.61
Chapter 2.5.2 --- Endoglucanase --- p.63
Chapter 2.5.3 --- Cellobiohydrolase --- p.65
Chapter 2.6 --- β-Glucosidase characterization studies --- p.66
Chapter 2.6.1 --- pH optimum --- p.66
Chapter 2.6.2 --- Temperature optimum --- p.66
Chapter 2.6.3 --- Thermal stability --- p.66
Chapter 2.6.4 --- Kinetic parameters --- p.67
Chapter 2.6.5 --- Enzyme inhibitor studies --- p.67
Chapter 2.6.6 --- Effect of lignin-derived phenolic monomers --- p.67
Chapter 2.6.7 --- Substrate specificity towards p-nitrophenyl-linked glycosides --- p.67
Chapter 2.6.8 --- "Substrate specificity towards different cellulosic substrates, mono- and disaccharides, hemicellulose, sugar alcohols and saponins" --- p.68
Chapter 2.6.9 --- Cellulose-binding assay --- p.68
Chapter 2.6.10 --- Effect of purified β-glucosidase on the production of glucose from crystalline cellulose and carboxymethylcellulose by Aspergillus niger cellulase --- p.69
Chapter 2.7 --- Miscellaneous analytical methods --- p.69
Chapter 2.7.1 --- Protein determination --- p.69
Chapter 2.7.2 --- Determination of isoelectric points --- p.69
Chapter 2.7.3 --- Activity staining of gels for cellulolytic enzyme activity --- p.70
Chapter 2.7.4 --- Staining for glycoprotein --- p.71
Chapter 2.7.5 --- Molecular weight determination --- p.71
Chapter 2.8 --- "Production, purification and specificity of antibodies to β-glucosidases and EG-III" --- p.72
Chapter 2.8.1 --- Antibodies to β-glucosidases --- p.72
Chapter 2.8.2 --- Antibodies to EG-III --- p.74
Chapter 2.9 --- Immunocytochemical studies --- p.75
Chapter 2.9.1 --- Confocal laser scanning microscopy --- p.75
Chapter 2.9.1.1 --- β-Glucosidases --- p.75
Chapter 2.9.1.2 --- Endoglucanase-III --- p.75
Chapter 2.9.2 --- Transmission electron microscopy --- p.76
Chapter 2.9.3 --- Scanning electron microscopy --- p.77
Chapter 2.10 --- Chemicals --- p.77
Results
Chapter 3.1 --- "Effect of culture conditions on the growth of, and the production of cellulolytic enzymes, by V. volvacea" --- p.79
Chapter 3.1.1 --- Growth --- p.79
Chapter 3.1.2 --- Endoglucanases --- p.81
Chapter 3.1.3 --- Cellobiohydrolase --- p.84
Chapter 3.1.4 --- β-Glucosidase --- p.87
Chapter 3.2 --- Purification of cellulolytic enzymes from V. volvacea --- p.92
Chapter 3.2.1 --- Preliminary purification of V. volvacea extracellular cellulolytic enzymes --- p.92
Chapter 3.2.1.1. --- (NH4)2SO4 precipitation --- p.92
Chapter 3.2.1.2 --- Ultrafiltration --- p.94
Chapter 3.2.1.3 --- Batch adsorption by anion exchanger --- p.94
Chapter 3.2.1.4 --- Separation by column chromatography --- p.96
Chapter 3.2.2 --- CBH enzymes …… --- p.102
Chapter 3.2.3 --- Endoglucanase enzymes --- p.106
Chapter 3.2.4 --- Cell-associated β-glucosidase enzymes --- p.113
Chapter 3.2.5 --- Extracellular β-glucosidase enzymes --- p.120
Chapter 3.3 --- Characterization of cell-associated β-glucosidases from V. volvacea --- p.122
Chapter 3.3.1 --- Influence of pH and temperature --- p.122
Chapter 3.3.2 --- Enzyme stability --- p.125
Chapter 3.3.3 --- Kinetic parameters --- p.128
Chapter 3.3.4 --- Enzyme inhibitors --- p.131
Chapter 3.3.5 --- Substrate specificity --- p.137
Chapter 3.3.6 --- Cellulose-binding and hydrolysing properties --- p.139
Chapter 3.3.7 --- Molecular weights and isoelectric points --- p.142
Chapter 3.4 --- Immunocytochemical studies on cellulolytic enzymes from V. volvacea --- p.146
Chapter 3.4.1 --- Cell-associated β-glucosidase --- p.146
Chapter 3.4.1.1 --- "Production, specificity and purification of polyclonal antibody" --- p.146
Chapter 3.4.1.2. --- Localization --- p.151
Chapter 3.4.1.3. --- Localization of cell-associated β-glucosidases by immuno- labelling --- p.151
Chapter 3.4.2 --- Endoglucanase-III --- p.161
Discussion
Chapter 4.1 --- Production --- p.163
Chapter 4.2 --- Composition of cellulolytic enzyme system of V. volvacea --- p.168
Chapter 4.3 --- Properties --- p.172
Chapter 4.4 --- Localization --- p.179
References --- p.185

Cellulose is a potential source of nano-material not only because it possesses excellent mechanical and optical properties, but also because it is environmentally benign. In this study, nanofibres derived from wheat straw, an agriculture residue, was utilized in producing flexible and optically transparent nanocompostie films. The composites were produced using a bi-phase impregnation technique that coats the dried nanofibre films with clear polyurethane acrylate resins using UV radiation induced curing. The nanocomposite films thus produced possess excellent tensile properties (161MPa in strength and 9GPa in Young’s Modulus), superior thermal stability (above 300°C), low coefficient of thermal expansion (8-9ppm/K), good light transparency (80%), excellent flexibility and abrasion resistance. These nanocomposite films are aimed to replace the conventional glass substrates made in batches to a polymer based substrates that can be efficiently produced in a roll-to-roll process for the base of the future flexible flat panel displays.

The focus of this study was to determine the effects of pretreatment of wheat straw by superheated steam (SS) alone or in combination with boiling water (BW) on biomass structure and yields of fermentation products (cell mass and fermentation end-products) by Clostridium thermocellum. Different cultivars of wheat straw were ground to a particle size less than 355 µm, and exposed to the following methods of pretreatment: i) 15 min soaking in 119 °C boiling water under absolute pressure of 193 kPa, followed by processing with SS at atmospheric pressure at different temperatures and retention times; ii) 15 min processing with SS at atmospheric pressure; and iii) 15 min soaking in 119 °C boiling water under absolute pressure of 193 kPa. Processing with SS was conducted at a variety of temperatures in the range of 180-220 °C. The severity of pretreatment was expressed through a treatment severity factor as a measure of harshness of treatment. Pretreatment combinations of boiling water with superheated steam at different retention times inside the SS chamber were also investigated. Wheat straw samples were then used as substrates in fermentation reactions with C. thermocellum. The most noticeable effects on biomass structure and fermentation were observed at the highest severity factor of 6.5, corresponding to 15 min pretreatment with boiling water followed by 15 min treatment with SS at 220˚C. This pretreatment provided the maximum increase in percentage of contribution of amorphous cellulose (% CAC), and the highest fermentation yield in terms of hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and ethanol production.
October 2015

Lignocellulosic biomass is composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and extraneous compounds (waxes, fats, gums, starches, alkaloids, resins, tannins, essential oils, silica, carbonates, oxalates, etc). The sugars within the complex carbohydrates (cellulose and hemicellulose) can be accessed for cellulosic bioethanol production through ethanologenic microorganisms. However, the composite nature of lignocellulosic biomass, particularly the lignin portion, presents resistance and recalcitrance to biological and chemical degradation during enzymatic hydrolysis/saccharification and the subsequent fermentation process. This leads to a very low conversion rate, which makes the process uneconomically feasible. Thus, biomass structure requires initial breakdown of the lignocellulosic matrix. In this study, two types of biomass pretreatment were applied on barley straw grind: radio-frequency (RF)-based dielectric heating technique using alkaline (NaOH) solution as a catalyst and steam explosion pretreatment at low severity factor. The pretreatment was applied on barley straw which was ground in hammer mill with a screen size of 1.6 mm, so as to enhance its accessibility and digestibility by enzymatic reaction during hydrolysis. Three levels of temperature (70, 80, and 90oC), five levels of ratio of biomass to 1% NaOH solution (1:4, 1:5, 1:6, 1:7, & 1:8), 1 h soaking time, and 20 min residence time were used for the radio frequency pretreatment. The following process and material variables were used for the steam explosion pretreatment: temperature (140-180oC), retention time (5-10 min), and 8-50% moisture content (w.b). The effect of both pretreatments was assessed through chemical composition analysis and densification of the pretreated and non-pretreated biomass samples. Results of this investigation show that lignocellulosic biomass absorbed more NaOH than water, because of the hydrophobic nature of lignin, which acts as an external crosslink binder on the biomass matrix and shields the hydrophilic structural carbohydrates (cellulose and hemicellulose). It was observed in the RF pretreatment that the use of NaOH solution and the ratio of biomass to NaOH solution played a major role, while temperature played a lesser role in the breakdown of the lignified matrix, as well as in the production of pellets with good physical quality. The heat provided by the RF is required to assist the alkaline solution in the deconstruction and disaggregation of lignocellulosic biomass matrix. The disruption and deconstruction of the lignified matrix is also associated with the dipole interaction, flip flop rotation, and friction generated between the electromagnetic charges from the RF and the ions and molecules from the NaOH solution and the biomass. The preserved cellulose from the raw sample (non-treated) was higher than that from the RF alkaline pretreated samples because of the initial degradation of the sugars during the pretreatment process. The same observation applies to hemicellulose. This implies that there is a trade-off between the breakdown of the biomass matrix/creating pores in the lignin and enhancing the accessibility and digestibility of the cellulose and hemicellulose. The use of dilute NaOH solution in biomass pretreatment showed that the higher the NaOH concentration, the lower was the acid insoluble lignin and the higher was the solubilized lignin moieties. The ratio of 1:6 at the four temperatures studied was determined to be the optimal. Based on the obtained data, it is predicted that this pretreatment will decrease the required amount and cost of enzymes by up to 64% compared to using non-treated biomass. However, the use of NaOH led to an increase in the ash content of biomass. The ash content increased with the decreasing ratio of biomass to NaOH solution. This problem of increased ash content can be addressed by washing the pretreated samples. RF assisted-alkaline pretreatment technique represents an easy to set-up and potentially affordable route for the bio-fuel industry, but this requires further energy analysis and economic validation, so as to investigate the significant high energy consumption during the RF-assisted alkaline pretreatment heating process. Data showed that in the steam explosion (SE) pretreatment, considerable thermal degradation of the energy potentials (cellulose and hemicellulose) with increasing acid soluble and insoluble lignin content occurred. The high degradation of the hemicellulose can be accounted for by its amorphous nature which is easily disrupted by external influences unlike the well-arranged crystalline cellulose. It is predicted that this pretreatment will decrease the required amount and cost of enzymes by up to 33% compared to using non-treated biomass.The carbon content of the solid SE product increased at higher temperature and longer residence time, while the hydrogen and oxygen content decreased. The RF alkaline and SE treatment combinations that resulted to optimum yield of cellulose and hemicellulose were selected and then enzymatically digested with a combined mixture of cellulase and β-glucosidase enzymes at 50oC for 96 h on a shaking incubator at 250 rev/min. The glucose in the hydrolyzed samples was subsequently quantified. The results obtained confirmed the effectiveness of the pretreatment processes. The average available percentage glucose yield that was released during the enzymatic hydrolysis for bioethanol production ranged from 78-96% for RF-alkaline pretreated and 30-50% for the SE pretreated barley straw depending on the treatment combination. While the non-treated sample has available average percentage glucose yield of just below 12%. The effects of both pretreatment methods (RF and SE) were further evaluated by pelletizing the pretreated and non-pretreated barley straw samples in a single pelleting unit. The physical characteristics (pellet density, tensile strength, durability rating, and dimensional stability) of the pellets were determined. The lower was the biomass:NaOH solution ratio, the better was the quality of the produced pellets. Washing of the RF-alkaline pretreated samples resulted in pellets with low quality. A biomass:NaOH solution ratio of 1:8 at the three levels of temperature (70, 80, and 90oC) studied are the RF optimum pretreatment conditions. The higher heating value (HHV) and the physical characteristics of the produced pellets increased with increasing temperature and residence time. The steam exploded samples pretreated at higher temperatures (180ºC) and retention time of 10 min resulted into pellets with good physical qualities. Fourier transform infrared-photoacoustic spectroscopy (FTIR-PAS) was further applied on the RF alkaline and SE samples in light of the need for rapid and easy quantification of biomass chemical components (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin). The results obtained show that the FTIR-PAS spectra can be rapidly used for the analysis and identification of the chemical composition of biofuel feedstock. Predictive models were developed for each of the biomass components in estimating their respective percentage chemical compositions.

碩士
國立中央大學
化學工程與材料工程研究所
100
Lignocellulosic biomass and crop wastes have been considered as potential sustainable feedstocks for energy production. Rice straw is an abundant and attractive lignocellulosic byproduct which contains nearly 40% cellulose. Different pretreatment methods can be used to enhance the digestibility of cellulosic materials. In this research, we investigated three kinds of pretreatments including alkali-treatment, ionic liquids (ILs)-treatment and combined method. We focused on the choice of ILs, toxicity test and ILs reuse as the research key point. According to this study, rice straw treated by alkali-treatment can increase cellulose component from 37.4% to 56.6%, treated by two combined methods can increase cellulose component to 65.6% and 63.2%. We discovered when ionic liquid [AMIM]Cl exist over 0.5% in medium would inhibit bacillus sp. growth and ionic liquid [BMIM]Cl compared to [AMIM]Cl , it has lower toxicity to bacteria growth. Rice straw treated by combined method after 72 hours enzyme saccharification could produce 85.3% and 75.4% reducing sugar, which is better than alkali-treatment and untreated rice straw, and after five times reuse still keep 83% and 93.4% relative to the first time. Compared to untreated rice straw, combined method can effective increase Yp/s from 0.044 to 0.178 and 0.198.

Shaojun Ding.
"October 2001."
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong,
Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-200).
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Abstracts in English and Chinese.

碩士
元智大學
化學工程與材料科學學系
107
Consumer products largely originate from fossil resources which will be depleted sooner or later and contribute to CO2 emissions and climate change. Alternatives are sought with low carbon emissions and these are inexhaustible resources like plant derived biomass. Our motivation is to optimize the extraction process of lignin. The only water pre-treatment process and combination with organic solvent Soxhletation was carried out in the first stage to reduce impurities. Soda process and diluted acid process were chosen for extraction methods and microwave-assisted as the main instrument for heating up solution. The results showed that pre-treatment process by using water following with isopropanol-hexane was given the best result. Water helped to extract sugar, alcohol, and some water soluble impurities. When isopropanol extracted the rest of polar impurities that water could not be done, Hexane was extracted non-polar impurities such as lipid. It could have extracted about 5.3 % weight loss of impurities without changed the lignin structure significantly due to TGA and FTIR results. This study aims to extract lignin in moderate temperature, pressure, and power in as little concentration and time as we could achieve. The process was done with soda process for 2 wt% NaOH concentration at 130 oC with 30-min extraction process as the best result rather than diluted acid process. The amount of lignin obtained about from this process was relatively higher both in 99.7% yield and 94.6% purity compared to other studies result. This type of lignin has similar characteristic to commercial dealkaline lignin. Slow rate of thermal degradation means that lignin is rich of high molecular weight compounds. It consisted of high molecular weight of syringyl and guaiacyl based on 2D-NMR HSQC result with M ̅w about 13000 g/mol. When dilute acid process using H2SO4 and EtOH only extracted 74.9% yield with 91% purity. But, it has lower M ̅w about 2100 g/mol which consists of low molecular hydroxyphenyl following with syringyl and guaiacyl. In summary, soda process shows greatest result within our objectives range. Severity factor can be considered to help predicted future improvement in changes of temperature, time, catalyst concentration

碩士
國立中正大學
化學工程所
95
Rice straw is a major agricultural waste in Taiwan. The generation of energy from this biomass is very valuable for Taiwan, a country that highly depends on the imported energy. In this research, different pretreated preparations of rice straw were used to induce the production of cellulase complex by a cellulase-producing strain Trichoderma reesei Rut C30 cultured in different media. Results from medium study indicated that the medium with low KH2PO4 concentration and adjusting pH before inducing cultivation could result in higher enzymatic activities for cellulose hydrolysis. Among these different pretreated preparations of rice straw, the alkaline-treated rice straw fragments could result in the highest cellulase activity, which was determined to be 1.07 FPU/ml. Powdered rice straw could generate a cellulase activity of 0.79 FPU/ml, while the non-pretreated rice straw fragment (2 cm) led a cellulase activity of 0.63 FPU/ml. These results suggested that using rice straw after the proposed pretreatments as the substrate for the production of cellulase and consequently the utilization of rice straw for fuel ethanol production is very potential. Proteomics is a very important research field in the post-genome era. However, proteomics in T. reesei Rut C30 is still on the very early stage. In this research, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) was employed as a tool for analyzing the composition of enzyme complex secreted by T. reesei Rut C30 that was cultivated on rice straw. In addition to the development of preferable method in 2-DE, the protein profile of enzyme complex secreted by T. reesei Rut C30 that was cultivated on Avicel and other pretreated preparations of rice straw was excavated. Results indicated that the cellulase composition varied with the substrate for the induction of cellulose production. In comparison with those in the literature and database, more protein spots were found in the 2-DE gel, suggesting that they may be new members in cellulase complex. Finally, the expression levels of protein spots appeared in the 2-DE gel were found to be well correlated to the specific activities of corresponding cellulase components. The correlation is useful for the determination of composition ratio in the cellulase complex.

Les récepteurs tyrosine kinases sont un groupe de molécules clés de signalisation, qui ont 2 fonctions: la détection des stimuli de l'environnement extérieur des cellules et la transmission de ces signaux à l’intérieur des cellules. Dans les 20 dernières années, notre laboratoire a choisi d'étudier la fonction d’Ephb6 kinase, un récepteur tyrosine kinase fortement exprimé dans les lymphocytes T.Comme Efnb1 et Efnb2 sont tous des ligands pour Ephb6, nous avons ensuite procédé à étudier leur rôle dans la fonction des cellules T in vitro et in vivo. Des cellules T spécifiques mutants (KO) dans les gènes Efnb1 ou Efnb2 ainsi que les doubles mutants Efnb1/b2 (double KO) ont été générés, mais il n’y avait que les souris double KO qui ont démontré de la déficience dans le développement des thymocytes, fonction de Th1 et Th17, la signalisation du récepteur d’IL-6, et les réponses antivirales. Des preuves solides indiquent que la reconnaissance d’auto-antigène par les cellules T est un événement précoce dans la pathogenèse de la PR. Donc, nous avons postulé que les cellules T spécifique Efnb1 / b2 double KO chez la souris peuvent protéger les souris de l’arthrite induite par collagène (CIA), un modèle de souris de la PR humaine. Nous avons trouvé que Efnb1et Efnb2 dans les cellules T étaient essentielles pour la production d'anticorps pathogéniques et de la migration des lymphocytes T vers les pattes enflammées chez les souris CIA. Notre étude clinique suggère que l'expression de EFNB1 dans les cellules T pourrait être un paramètre utile pour surveiller l'activité de la maladie de RA et la réponse de traitement. Pour élucider les événements dans le programme d'activation des lymphocytes T, nous avons exploré par l'analyse des micropuces d'ADN pour identifier des molécules qui ont été exprimées de manière différente dans le WT par rapport aux cellules T Ephb6 KO dans le stade précoce de l’activation des cellules T. Environ 30 molécules étaient sur ou sous exprimées plus de 3 fois dans les cellules T WT par rapport aux cellules T KO pendant les 16 premières heures après stimulation par l'anti-CD3. Stra6 (stimulée par le gène de l'acide rétinoïque 6) et Armc5 (Armadillo répéter contenant 5) ont été parmi ceux qui ont été validées pour leur expression altérée. STRA6 est un récepteur de haute affinité pour le plasma rétinol-binding protéine (RBP) et un médiateur pour absorption cellulaire de vitamine A. Cellules T KO et WT étaient similaires en termes de prolifération et les réponses immunitaires anti-virales de virus de la chorioméningite lymphocytaire (LCMV). Ainsi, la sur-régulation de Stra6 est soit un événement parallèle qui ne soit pas essentiel pour le programme d'activation des lymphocytes T, ou il est très essentiel que la redondance existe, et sa suppression ne montre aucun effet apparent sur l'activation des cellules T. ARMC5 est une protéine intracellulaire contenant sept répétitions en tandem d’armadillo et un domaine BTB. Les fonctions du ARMC5 dans le système immunitaire ne sont pas encore connues. Nos résultats d'hybridation in situ ont montré une expression élevée de Armc5 dans le thymus, et une expression modérée dans les ganglions lymphatiques et la rate. Nous avons généré des souris KO Armc5. Fait interessant, les cellules T Armc5 KO présentaient de la prolifération diminuée et de la différenciation compromise vers Th1 et Th17 in vitro. Les souris KO étaient résistantes à l'induction expérimentale d’encéphalite auto-immune, et ont été compromises dans les réponses immunitaires anti-LCMV. En utilisant de la levure 2-hybride test, nous avons identifié 8 protéines ARMC5-associantes, qui sont connues pour les rôles dans l'activation de la cellule, le cycle cellulaire et l'apoptose. Une étude mécanique est en cours. Nos résultats montrent que Armc5 est essentiel dans la programme d'activation/de prolifération/de différenciation des lymphocytes T. Nos études ont augmenté nos connaissances sur EFNB1, EFNB2, STRA6 et ARMC5 en biologie des lymphocytes T et leur pertinence à des troubles immunitaires dans des modèles animaux ainsi que chez l'être humaine.
Receptor tyrosine kinases are a group of key signaling molecules, which have dual functions: sensing the environmental stimuli outside the cells and transmitting them into the cells. 20 years ago, our laboratory started to study the function of Ephb6 kinase, a receptor tyrosine kinase highly expressed in T lymphocytes. As both Efnb1 and Efnb2 are the ligands for Ephb6, we then proceeded to study their roles in T cell function in vitro and in vivo. T cellspecific Efnb1, Efnb2 single gene knockout (KO), as well as Efnb1/b2 double KO mice were generated, but only the double KO mice showed compromised thymocyte development, Th1 and Th17 function, IL-6 receptor signaling, and anti-virus responses. Strong evidence indicates that T cells play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Thus, we postulated that T cell-specific Efnb1/b2 double KO in mice may protect mice from collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), a mouse model for human RA. We found that Efnb1 and Efnb2 in T cells were essential for pathogenic antibody production and T cell migration to the inflamed paws in mice with CIA. Our clinical study suggests that the expression of EFNB1 in T cells might be a useful parameter for monitoring RA disease activity and treatment responses. Naïve T cells have the ability to expansion and differentiation into effector cells once they encounter foreign antigens, during which a large number of molecules are modulated. Some of these molecules play essential regulatory roles, while others exert house keeping functions and/or act as supporters to cope with increased or changed metabolic demands. To fully elucidate events in the T cell activation program, we undertook unbiased exploration with DNA microarray analysis to identify molecules that were differentially expressed in WT versus Ephb6 KO T cells in the early T-cell activation stage. About 30 molecules were up- or down-regulated more than three folds in WT T cells compared with KO T cells. Stra6 (stimulated by retinoic acid gene 6) and Armc5 (Armadillo repeat-containing 5) were among those that had been validated for their altered expression. We generated mice with these two genes deleted to study their roles in T cell function in vitro and in vivo. STRA6 is a high-affinity receptor for plasma retinol-binding protein (RBP) and mediates cellular vitamin A uptake. Stra6 KO mice manifest normal spleen and thymus in size, cellularity and lymphocyte subpopulations. KO and WT T cells were similar regarding proliferation, differentiation and anti-viral immune responses to lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV). Thus, the up-regulation of Stra6 is either a parallel event which is not essential for the T cell activation program or it is so critical that heavy redundancy exists. ARMC5 is an intracellular protein containing seven tandem armadillo repeats and one BTB domain. Functions of ARMC5 in the immune system are not known previously. Our in situ hybridization results showed high expression of Armc5 in the thymus and moderate expression in the spleen and lymph nodes. A transient increase of Armc5 expression in T cells after TCR activation was found. To investigate its roles in T cell function, Armc5 KO mice were generated. The KO mice weighed 40% less than their WT counterparts. Lymphoid organs (the thymus, spleen and lymph nodes) of the KO mice appeared to be of normal size, weight, cellularity, and lymphocyte subpopulations. Intriguingly, Armc5 KO T cells presented decreased proliferation and compromised differentiation towards Th1 and Th17 in vitro. The KO mice were resistant to experimental autoimmune encephalitis induction and were compromised in anti-LCMV immune responses. Using yeast 2-hybrid assay, we have identified 8 ARMC5-assciating proteins, which have known functions in cell cycling and apoptosis. Further mechanistic study is underway. Our results reveal that Armc5 is vital in the T cell activation/proliferation /differentiation program. Our studies have augmented our knowledge about EFNB1, EFNB2, STRA6 and ARMC5 in T cell biology and their relevance to immune disorders in animal models as well as in humans.