The effect of surfactant-assisted ultrasound-ionic liquid pretreatment on the structure and fermentable sugar production of a water hyacinth.

This study investigated the possibility of enhancing the disruption of water hyacinth (WH) in an ultrasound-ionic liquid (US-IL) pretreatment assisted by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([BMIM]Cl) was used to dissolve the WH. The optimum concentration of SDS for the highest production of reducing sugar was also determined. Compared to the US-IL pretreatment, the production of reducing sugars, cellulose conversion and delignification were increased by 72.23%, 58.74% and 21.01%, respectively, upon addition of 0.5% SDS. Moreover, the enhancement of SDS in the US-IL pretreatment was confirmed by the analysis of structural features, which demonstrated that the SDS increased the removal of lignin and decreased the cellulose crystallinity.