Combined dilute sulfuric acid and Tween 80 pretreatment of corn stover significantly improves the enzyme digestibility: Synergistic removal of hemicellulose and lignin

[Display omitted] •A novel combined dilute-H2SO4&Tween 80 pretreatment of corn stover was developed.•Synergistic effect of H2SO4 and Tween 80 removed both hemicellulose and lignin.•Response surface optimization realized a high monomeric sugar yield of 95.06%.•The enzyme susceptibility was explained by their physicochemical characteristics.•The recovered liquor exerted excellent reusability for subsequent pretreatment. Pretreatment is a prerequisite to tackle the issue of biomass recalcitrance, which is the major hindrance of lignocellulose-to-sugars routes. In the present study, a novel combination of dilute sulfuric acid (dilute-H2SO4) with Tween 80 pretreatment of corn stover (CS) was developed to significantly enhance the enzyme digestibility. Strong synergistic effects of H2SO4 and Tween 80 for simultaneously eliminating hemicellulose and lignin and significantly promoting saccharification yield were observed. A response surface optimization realized the maximum monomeric sugar yield of 95.06% at 120 °C for 1.4 h with 0.75 wt% of H2SO4 and 73.92 wt% of Tween 80. The excellent enzyme susceptibility of pretreated CS was explained by their physical and chemical characteristics via SEM, XRD, and FITR. The repeatedly recovered pretreatment liquor exerted highly-effective reusability in the subsequent pretreatments for at least four cycles. This strategy offers a highly-efficient and practical pretreatment strategy, which provides valuable information for the lignocellulose-to-sugars routes.