Endoglucanase recycling for disintegrating cellulosic fibers to fibrils

摘要

Enzymatic pretreatment as an eco-friendly strategy has offered potential benefits in disintegrating cellulosic fibers into fibrils but limited by its high price. In this study, endoglucanase recycling was investigated in order to reduce endoglucanase expanses. Significant DP reduction can be achieved from 50.88% to 76.96% only by recycling liquid which included free endoglucanase. In the presence of fresh endoglucanase, no more pronounced reduction of DP was observed in all recycling rounds attributing to competitive adsorption between fresh and recycled endoglucanase. Fresh endoglucanase preferentially occupied active sites on cellulose surface, hydrolyzed amorphous region, and followed by degrading fibrils to saccharides together with recycled endoglucanase. This hypothesis was evidenced by increase of saccharides concentration when fresh endoglucanase was added. This study aims to provide theoretical support to decrease endoglucanase cost for deconstruction of fibers to fibrils in industrial manufacture.