Advanced materials for the biochemical production of second generation biofuels and chemicals

拟议的研究将利用先进的功能材料来克服目前将生物质转化为燃料和化学品的瓶颈。目标瓶颈是将原料转化为可发酵糖和从发酵罐中去除有毒产物。作为生物炼制概念的一部分，最初的过程将是第二代生物燃料——生物丁醇的生产。原料将是工业过程中的废物流和木质纤维素生物质。这与目前用于生物乙醇生产的玉米等粮食作物形成鲜明对比，消除了生物燃料生产的一些道德困境，也减少了环境足迹。木质纤维素生物质（植物生物质，如感染山松甲虫的木材）最初将被酶转化为可发酵的糖，然后由微生物发酵成生物丁醇或其他产品。酶解步骤将在离子液体存在的情况下进行，潜在地消除了额外预处理的需要。离子液体（熔点低于100°C的盐）已被证明能部分溶解纤维素和木质素。特定任务的离子液体将被设计成在允许酶活性的同时溶解生物质，从而为从各种可再生资源中生产燃料和化学品提供新的途径。

The proposed research will utilize advanced functional materials to overcome current bottlenecks in the conversion of biomass into fuels and chemicals. The targeted bottlenecks are the conversion of raw materials into fermentable sugars and the removal of toxic products from the fermenter. The initial process of interest will be the production of biobutanol, a second-generation biofuel, as part of the biorefinery concept. The feedstock will be waste streams from industrial processes and lignocellulosic biomass. This stands in contrast to food crops such as corn currently used in bioethanol production, eliminating some of the ethical dilemmas of biofuel production and also reducing the environmental footprint. Lignocellulosic biomass (plant biomass such as lumber infected with mountain pine beetle) will initially be enzymatically converted into fermentable sugars followed by microbial fermentation into biobutanol or other products. The enzymatic step will be carried out in the presence of ionic liquids, potentially eliminating the need for additional pre-treatment. Ionic liquids (salts with melting points below 100 °C) have been shown to partly dissolve cellulose and lignin. Task-specific ionic liquids will be designed to dissolve the biomass while allowing for enzymatic activity, thereby providing a new route to produce fuels and chemicals from a variety of renewable resources.