Separation of Cellulose From Rice Husk Treated With Ionic Liquid Prior To Enzymatic Treatment

The present work deals with the use of multiple-step procedures to obtain cellulose from rice husk. The objective of this study is to provide new environmentally
friendly and efficient method to separate higher percentage of cellulose from the rice husk with minimal structural alteration. The method comprised of applying ionic liquid for pretreatment prior to enzymatic delignification of rice husk biomass. Lignocellulosic biomass pretreated with ionic liquid is known to be favorable for subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis due to their reduced cellulose crystallinity and decreased lignin content. Delignification was done to remove the lignin from the lignocellulosic material so that the rice husk obtained from the treatment will be of higher cellulose composition. Therefore, in this study it was hoped to achieve as maximum cellulose yield as possible without damaging the environment. The effect of ionic liquid to the enzymatic treatment was examined, together with the structure of rice husk biomass, lignin content and enzymatic yield.