Oak Ridge researchers ID forces changing plant structures during pretreatment

In Tennessee, researchers studying more effective ways to convert woody plant matter into biofuels at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have identified fundamental forces that change plant structures during pretreatment processes used in the production of bioenergyThe research team, which published its results in Green Chemistry, set out to decipher the inner workings of plant cell walls during pretreatment, the most expensive stage of biofuel production. Pretreatment subjects plant material to extremely high temperature and pressure to break apart the protective gel of lignin and hemicellulose that surrounds sugary cellulose fibers.