The dual effects of lignin content on enzymatic hydrolysis using film composed of cellulose and lignin as a structure model.

The degree of delignification during pretreatment is a critical question for economic conversion of biomass to sugar platform. Many models have been used to study the optimum lignin content in biomass, but few of them are able to study without disturbances, such as the complex component and structure of biomass. A novel film model composed of only cellulose and lignin was used to investigate the effect of lignin on enzymatic hydrolysis. High lignin-cellulose proportion (10.00-31.25%) hindered enzymatic hydrolysis, whereas low lignin-cellulose proportion (2.00-8.00%) showed a notable potential to promote enzymatic hydrolysis. The enzymatic hydrolysis rate of lignin-cellulose (6.00%) film was 11.5% higher than that of pure cellulose films. Further study indicated that the promotion was due to the enhancement of film porosity and roughness by residual lignin. Thus, based on the biomimetic model, excessive delignification is not recommended in view of efficient conversion and economy.