C-nanocoated ZnO by TEMPO-oxidized Cellulose Templating for Improved Photocatalytic Performance

In the present study, two kinds of deep eutectic solvents (DESs) were facilely prepared and adopted to drastically disturb the recalcitrance of corncobs for further boosting sugar yields and obtaining valorized lignin by-products while reducing treatment times. The DES systems included benzyltrimethylammonium chloride (BTMAC)/lactic acid (LA) and benzyltriethylammonium chloride (BTEAC)/lactic acid (LA), and the reactions were conducted in a short time of 2 h at 100-140 degrees C. The proposed process desirably retained most of the cellulose in pretreated corncobs (94.1-96.9%). Enzymatic digestibility of cellulose-enriched residues was significantly enhanced to 94.0% and was approximately three-fold higher than the untreated material at an enzyme loading of 15 FPU g(-1) substrate. The efficient conversion was mainly ascribed to the synergetic and efficient removal of xylan (80.8%) and lignin (63.4%), which resulted in the incompact structure and corrosive surfaces of treated corncobs.