From nano- to micrometer scale: the role of microwave-assisted acid and alkali pretreatments in the sugarcane biomass structure

Background To date, great strides have been made in elucidating the role of thermochemical pretreatments in the chemical and structural features of plant cell walls; however, there is no clear picture of the plant recalcitrance and its relationship to deconstruction. Previous studies precluded full answers due to the challenge of multiscale features of plant cell wall organization. Complementing the previous efforts, we undertook a systematic, multiscale, and integrated approach to track the effect of microwave-assisted H2SO4 and NaOH treatments on the hierarchical structure of plants, i.e., from a nano- to micrometer scale. We focused on the investigation of the highly recalcitrant sclerenchyma cell walls from sugarcane bagasse. Results Through atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses, remarkable details of the assembly of cellulose microfibrils not previously seen were revealed. Following the H2SO4 treatment, we observed that cellulose microfibrils were almost double the width of the alkali pretreated sample at the temperature of 160 °C. Such enlargement led to a greater contact between cellulose chains, with a subsequent molecule alignment, as indicated by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) results with the conspicuous expansion of the average crystallite size. The delignification process had little effect on the local nanometer-sized arrangement of cellulose molecules. However, the rigidity and parallel alignment of cellulose microfibrils were partially degraded. The XRD analysis also agrees with these findings as evidenced by large momentum transfer vectors (q > 20 nm-1), interpreted as indicators of the long-range order of cell wall components, which were similar for all the studied samples except with application of the NaOH treatment at 160 °C. These changes were followed by the eventual swelling of the fiber cell walls. Conclusions Based on an integrated approach, we presented multidimensional architectural models of cell wall deconstruction resulting from microwave-assisted pretreatments. We provided direct evidence supporting the idea that hemicellulose is the main barrier for the swelling of cellulose microfibrils, whereas lignin adds rigidity to cell walls. Our findings shed light on the design of more efficient strategies, not only for the conversion of biomass to fuels but also for the production of nanocellulose, which has great potential for several applications such as composites, rheology modifiers, and pharmaceuticals.