Technology news

TL;DR: Reducing the crystallinity of cellulose makes plant biomass easier to convert into biofuels.

Abstract: 239 © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd | Biofuels, Bioprod. Bioref. 6:239 (2012);DOI: 10.1002/bbb An international team of scientists (Harris et al., 2012) has confi rmed that reducing the crystallinity of cellulose makes plant biomass easier to convert into biofuels. Cellulose consists of chains of glucose molecules linked together by hydrogen bonds, forming microfi brils. Usually these chains are linked together in a regular, parallel manner, forming a crystalline structure, but they can also be linked together in a more random man ner, forming an amorphous structure. In microfi brils, the chains in the center tend to adopt the crystalline structure, while those close to the surface oft en adopt a more amorphous structure. CRYSTALLINE CELLULOSE