An update on QUT's acid-catalysed glycerol pretreatment technology for biorefining of sugarcane bagasse

Sugarcane bagasse is one of the most abundant agricultural biomass in the world. As a lignocellulosic biomass, sugarcane bagasse consists of sugar polymers (cellulose and hemicellulose, ~65%) and aromatic polymers (lignin, ~28%). Fractionation of sugarcane bagasse to low-cost fermentable sugars for producing biofuels and bioproducts and high-quality lignins for synthesizing biopolymers and biocomposites is critical towards biorefining of sugarcane bagasse for value-adding. Previously, the research team at QUT developed a patented acid-catalysed glycerol pretreatment technology that can convert cellulose in sugarcane bagasse to glucose with a yield of over 90%. Our recent studies showed that this pretreatment technology was a promising platform technology towards biorefining of sugarcane bagasse. Based on this technology, sugarcane bagasse could be fractionated to fermentable sugars and reactive lignins. These fractions can be used to produce a number of valuable biomass-derived products, such as biofuels, biochemical, and biodegradable packaging materials. In this paper, our recent progress on this pretreatment technology towards development of biorefinery processes for sugarcane bagasse utilisation is summarised. Key words Sugarcane bagasse, pretreatment, fractionation, bioeconomy, fermentable sugars, lignin