University of Alberta researchers develop cellulose nanocrystals from ethanol waste

In Canada, University of Alberta research is brewing up better ways to help ethanol producers make the most of plant waste they use to make their fuel.

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) created in the U of A biorefining process have generally been found to have the strength and stiffness of steel, as well as properties that make it a potential thickener for industrial coatings and paint, and can be chemically tweaked for qualities like water resistance.

With growing worldwide interest in CNCs and their potential uses, the product is currently fetching about C$1,000 per kilogram.

The U of A-based research – which is also part of Future Energy Systems, a cross-disciplinary research and teaching network working to develop innovations for energy transition – focused on breaking down cellulose.

Cellulose is a main component of plant material made of glucose, a sugar that can then be fermented into alcohols like ethanol, which is blended with gasoline. The team was able to formulate a mild enzymatic preprocess that breaks down loosely packed regions of cellulose to create fermentable sugars and allows the production of CNCs from the more tightly packed crystalline regions, which traditionally cost more to break down into glucose. In this way, they were able to almost double the amount of CNCs they could get from the production process.