Enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of fibre sludge into reducing sugars

The main goal of this research is the enzyme-catalyzed conversion of fibre sludge into reducing sugars, which can further be transformed into higher alcohol biofuels by fermentation. Enzymatic hydrolysis of 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([AMIM]Cl) pretreated fibre sludge demonstrated that this cellulose-rich waste fraction can be successfully converted into reducing sugars. The organic material content of this fibre sludge was determined to be about 80 %. The relative yields of total reducing sugars (glucose) in this study were higher (maximum >95 %) compared with our earlier studies (34 %) of the same pretreatment procedure followed by acid hydrolysis and enzymatic hydrolysis. Due to the ionic liquid used in this study, we were able to recover 85 % (compared with 50 %) of the initial dry fibre sludge with [AMIM]Cl pretreatment.