Article
Agricultural Engineering
Shao-Chao Sun, Dan Sun, Han-Yin Li, Xue-Fei Cao, Shao-Ni Sun, Jia-Long Wen
Summary: This study successfully extracted lignin with high yield and ultra-high purity from poplar using a combined method of hydrothermal pretreatment and alkali extraction. Confocal Raman microscopy analysis revealed that lignin was preferentially delignified in the secondary wall and compound middle lamella, then throughout the entire morphological regions of the cell wall. NMR results showed that the cleavage of beta-O-4 linkages was the dominant reaction, leading to an increase in phenolic hydroxyl groups, a decrease in molecular weight, and heterogeneity of the isolated lignin.
INDUSTRIAL CROPS AND PRODUCTS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yi-Ting Yang, Meng-Kai Qin, Qian Sun, Yu-Fei Gao, Cheng-Ye Ma, Jia-Long Wen
Summary: In this study, the structural variations of lignin during pretreatment and delignification were investigated through an integrated process. The findings revealed the structural changes of lignin fractions and the successful assembly of lignin nanoparticles with excellent antioxidant activity.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
(2022)
Article
Acoustics
Jing Qian, Fengbin Zhao, Jingjing Gao, LiJie Qu, Zhengbin He, Songlin Yi
Summary: Ultrasound-water, alkali, and ultrasound-alkali treatments were found to remove extractives from conduits of wood cell walls, resulting in uniform self-shrinking samples with changes in chemical components. The relative content of hemicellulose decreased significantly in ultrasound-8% NaOH treated samples, and the signal intensity of lignin showed more reductions in ultrasound-water and ultrasound-alkali treated samples. The cellulose crystallinity increased notably in ultrasound-assisted treated samples.
ULTRASONICS SONOCHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Yue Zhang, Shiwei Lin, Yangyan Zhou, Jialong Wen, Xihui Kang, Xiao Han, Chao Liu, Weilun Yin, Xinli Xia
Summary: This study investigates the regulatory mechanisms of PdNF-YB21 on lignin structure in poplar roots through a variety of techniques, including physiology, transgenosis, transcriptomics, metabolome, Confocal Raman Microscopy (CRM) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). The results indicate that transgenic plants exhibit increased genes and metabolites related to S-lignin synthesis, leading to improved root hardness, increased root lignin content and S/G ratio, and enhanced concentrations of glucan, xylan, and lignin in roots, ultimately promoting root growth.
INDUSTRIAL CROPS AND PRODUCTS
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Jerome F. L. Duval, Angelina Razafitianamaharavo, Isabelle Bihannic, Marc Offroy, Nicolas Lesniewska, Benedicte Sohm, Helene Le Cordier, Christian Mustin, Christophe Pagnout, Audrey Beaussart
Summary: The variation of cell-wall ultrastructure, composition, and nanomechanics of Chlorella vulgaris upon culture ageing and lysozyme treatment was investigated using a combination of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and confocal microscopy. The presence of a fibrillated mesh at the surface of cells harvested in the stationary phase was observed through AFM imaging. The structured network formed by fibrils containing the N-acetyl-D-glucosamine unit was severely damaged by lysozyme treatment. Furthermore, lysozyme was found to affect algal physiology, triggering oxidative stress and changes in cell lipid content.
ALGAL RESEARCH-BIOMASS BIOFUELS AND BIOPRODUCTS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Gaomin Wang, Mingjun Huang, Fucheng Li, Qiang Li, Fushan Chen, Songlin Wang, Zhe Ling, Zhe Ji
Summary: In this study, a combination of microcosmic and chemical analysis methods was used to investigate the effects of deep eutectic solvent (DES) pretreatment on the micromorphology of cell walls and the dissolution regular of lignin, aiming to achieve high-performance biorefinery. The results showed that DES pretreatment removed non-cellulose components and improved enzymatic saccharification efficiency. It also disrupted the beta-O-4 bond in lignin units, resulting in a decrease in molecular weight. Additionally, DES exhibited good recoverability and maintained the typical structure of regenerated lignin.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
(2024)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jian Zhang, Wei Shen, Cynthia Collings, Kirk A. Vander Meulen, Brian G. Fox, Leida M. Vazquez Ramos, James A. Dumesic, Shi-You Ding
Summary: Thermochemical pretreatment is crucial for processing lignocellulosic biomass to produce biofuels and biomaterials. γ-Valerolactone (GVL) has been used as a green solvent to dissolve lignin effectively. This study compared the performance of HCl and H2SO4 as catalysts in GVL pretreatment, finding that GVL-HCl at 100°C showed similar effectiveness to GVL-H2SO4 at 120°C in terms of xylan and lignin removal. Real-time imaging revealed that GVL-HCl pretreatment at lower temperature could rapidly remove lignin from cell walls and optimize the efficiency of GVL-based pretreatment.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2021)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Meenaa Chandrasekar, Jeana L. Collins, Sanaz Habibi, Rebecca G. Ong
Summary: The tissue-specific biochemical heterogeneities of lignocellulosic biomass and their effect on biomass deconstruction can be best understood through the combination of confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and immunohistochemistry. A custom polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic imaging reactor was developed to overcome the challenges of studying fragile plant materials. The results showed that less lignified parenchyma cell walls are more susceptible to pretreatment, while highly lignified protoxylem cell walls are the most resistant during enzymatic hydrolysis.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Materials Science, Paper & Wood
Kenta Morita, Musashi Takenaka, Kohei Tomita, Jun Ishii, Hideo Kawaguchi, Daisuke Murakami, Hikaru Amo, Miku Fujii, Tatsuo Maruyama, Takuya Matsumoto, Takashi Nishino, Chiaki Ogino
Summary: Cellulose has been developed as a sustainable alternative to petrochemical materials. Lignocellulose nanofibers (LCNFs) show promise as they are produced from biomass with mild pretreatment. This study developed two methods to detect and visualize lignin in LCNFs, revealing its microscopic location and providing a strong tool for analyzing lignin-containing materials.
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Shao-Chao Sun, Dan Sun, Han-Min Wang, Han-Yin Li, Xue-Fei Cao, Shao-Ni Sun, Tong-Qi Yuan
Summary: In this study, a two-step hydrothermal pretreatment combined with alkali extraction method was used to deconstruct poplar cell walls for enzymatic hydrolysis, resulting in the removal of a significant amount of hemicelluloses and lignin. Confocal Raman microscopy revealed that hemicelluloses were unevenly removed from cell walls, mainly originating from the secondary wall. Water-soluble hemicelluloses were found to have a more branched structure compared to alkali-soluble hemicelluloses, with a linear backbone of (1 -> 4)-beta-D-Xylp and 4-O-Me-alpha-d-GlcpA side chains identified in hemicelluloses isolated from poplar. This work provides an efficient pathway to convert poplar into fermentable sugars and hemicelluloses with significant yield.
CARBOHYDRATE POLYMERS
(2021)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Jinye Wang, Yong Xu, Xianzhi Meng, Yunqiao Pu, Arthur Ragauskas, Junhua Zhang
Summary: The study demonstrated successful production of XOS from poplar through AA pretreatment, with a high yield of 55.8%. The inhibition degree of lignin in poplar increased from 1.0% to 6.8% after AA pretreatment, with lignin being acetylated and its molecular weight decreasing significantly. The increase in S/G ratio, phenolic hydroxyl, and condensed units of lignin after AA pretreatment may contribute to the intensified inhibition observed.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Dusan Vobornik, Maohui Chen, Shan Zou, Gregory P. P. Lopinski
Summary: This study identifies two issues that can impact the accuracy of AFM measurements of single-wall carbon nanotubes' diameter. The proposed protocol effectively reduces errors associated with these issues. An analysis method is developed to minimize uncertainties in the extraction of diameters from measured images. The method is successfully applied to measure the diameter distribution of individual highly semiconducting enriched nanotubes in networks.
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Tao Zhang, Renko de Vries, Xiaoqi Xu, Yong Xue, Changhu Xue
Summary: The study investigated the structural changes of konjac glucomannan (KGM) during heat-induced gelation, revealing that gelation requires both heat and alkali-induced deacetylation. Deacetylation was found to be the rate-determining step in the process, leading to particle aggregation and interaction to form a network structure. This understanding was aided by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) results.
FOOD HYDROCOLLOIDS
(2021)
Review
Physiology
Andrea M. Lopez-Canizales, Aracely Angulo-Molina, Adriana Garibay-Escobar, Erika Silva-Campa, Miguel A. Mendez-Rojas, Karla Santacruz-Gomez, Monica Acosta-Elias, Beatriz Castaneda-Medina, Diego Soto-Puebla, Osiris Alvarez-Bajo, Alexel Burgara-Estrella, Martin Pedroza-Montero
Summary: This article discusses the changes in the membrane of red blood cells caused by storage and irradiation, characterized using various techniques. The experimental results serve as biomarkers of cell aging and storage damage.
FRONTIERS IN PHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Wujoon Cha, Matthew F. Campbell, Kathryn Hasz, Samuel M. Nicaise, Drew E. Lilley, Takaaki Sato, Robert W. Carpick, Igor Bargatin
Summary: The new cantilever probes with hollow cross-sections and alumina walls demonstrate lower spring constants and higher bandwidths compared to traditional solid counterparts, allowing for quicker response to topography changes while being more resistant to wear.
