Enzyme mediated nanofibrillation of cellulose by the synergistic actions of an endoglucanase, lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase (LPMO) and xylanase

Physiochemical methods have generally been used to “open-up” biomass substrates/pulps and have been the main method used to fibrillate cellulose. However, recent work has shown that canonical cellulase enzymes such as endoglucanases, in combination with “amorphogenesis inducing” proteins such as lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMO), swollenin and hemicellulases, are able to increase cellulose accessibility. In the work reported here different combinations of endoglucanase, LPMO and xylanase were applied to Kraft pulps to assess their potential to induce fibrillation at low enzyme loading over a short time period. Although gross fiber properties (fiber length, width and morphology) were relatively unchanged, over a short period of time, the intrinsic physicochemical characteristics of the pulp fibers (e.g. cellulose accessibility/DP/crystallinity/charge) were positively enhanced by the synergistic cooperation of the enzymes. LPMO addition resulted in the oxidative cleavage of the pulps, increasing the negative charge (~100 mmol kg(−1)) on the cellulose fibers. This improved cellulose nanofibrilliation while stabilizing the nanofibril suspension (zeta potential ζ = ~60 mV), without sacrificing nanocellulose thermostability. The combination of endoglucanase, LPMO and xylanases was shown to facilitate nanofibrillation, potentially reducing the need for mechanical refining while resulting in a pulp with a more uniform nanofibril composition.