Application of tetra-n-methylammonium hydroxide on cellulose dissolution and isolation from sugarcane bagasse

Cellulose isolation, a promising way for lignocellulosic biomass utilization, is always restricted by the poor solubility of cellulose. In this paper, tetra-n-methylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) was confirmed to be capable of readily dissolving/regenerating cellulose without chemical modification at room temperature. Meanwhile, cellulose isolation from lignocellulosic biomass by initially dissolving the biomass in TMAH followed by cellulose precipitation was proposed, and the isolated substance with average cellulose purity of 92.1 ± 0.3% could be obtained throughout this process under the optimum conditions: temperature 52°C, time 60 min, and loading ratio of TMAH/biomass (w/w) 7.2:1. Besides, high efficiency cellulose isolation (i.e. >70% cellulose purity) could be continuously remained during 4-round cycles by using the recycled TMAH solvent without distinct activity loss.