Lignin in pretreated cellulosic biomass can non-productively adsorb cellulase, resulting in loss of a significant portion of this expensive protein. In addition, lignin interferes with the path for cellulase action, slowing down hydrolysis. Thus, the effectiveness of enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass can be significantly enhanced if lignin is removed or modified before adding enzymes. In this project, the effect of adding various surfactants as well as various surfactant concentration were evaluated for the enzymatic digestibility of corn stover pretreated at 140-220℃ with and without sulfuric acid. In addition, cellulase adsorption on pretreated solids was significantly reduced, apparently as a result of the interaction of the surfactants with lignin. A mechanism will be presented to explain the observed impact of surfactants on performance.

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