The mechanism of poly(ethylene glycol) 4000 effect on enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose.

Adsorption of cellulase on substrates is a key step for enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose. Addition of surface active additives affects the interaction between cellulase and substrates and has been proven to enhance enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose by many studies. However, the mechanism of poly(ethylene glycol) effect is not yet clear. In this study, enzymatic activity and the adsorption of cellulase on different substrates with different addition sequence of PEG 4000 were investigated. The crystallinity index of substrates incubated by PEG 4000 was also measured by FTIR and XRD. Except for reduction of unproductive binding of cellulase on lignin which was reported by some literatures, current results confirmed a crucial function of PEG 4000 which prevented cellulase deactivation on cellulose rather than lignin through significant difference in adsorption capacity and enzymatic activity of cellulase with different PEG 4000 addition sequence. This conclusion rationally explained PEG 4000 had positive effect on pure cellulose without lignin as well as on lignocellulosic biomass. In addition, PEG 4000 was also found to be contributed to promote the removal of amorphous cellulose. These conclusions are helpful to understand the effect of surface active additives and optimize the enzymatic hydrolysis process.