Effect of combined wet alkaline mechanical pretreatment on enzymatic hydrolysis of corn stover and its mechanism

BACKGROUND: To further optimize the mechanochemical pretreatment process, a combined wet alkaline mechanical pretreatment of corn stover was proposed with a short time and less chemical consumption at room temperature. RESULTS: The combined alkaline mechanical pretreatment significantly enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis resulting a highest glucose yield (Y(G)) of 91.9% with 3% NaOH and ball milling (BM) for 10 min. At this optimal condition, 44.4% lignin was removed and major portion of cellulose was retained (86.6%). The prehydrolysate contained by-products such as monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, acetic acid, and lignin but no furfural and 5-HMF. The alkaline concentration showed a significant impact on glucose yield, while the BM time was less important. Quantitative correlation analysis showed that Y(G) (%) = 0.68 × BM time (min) + 19.27 × NaOH concentration (%) + 13.71 (R(2) = 0.85), Y(G) = 6.35 × glucan content − 231.84 (R(2) = 0.84), and Y(G) = − 14.22 × lignin content + 282.70 (R(2) = 0.87). CONCLUSION: The combined wet alkaline mechanical pretreatment at room temperature had a boosting effect on the yield of enzymatic hydrolysis with short treatment time and less chemical consumption. The impact of the physical and chemical properties of corn stover pretreated with different BM times and/or different NaOH concentrations on the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis was investigated, which would be beneficial to illustrate the effective mechanism of the mechanochemical pretreatment method. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13068-022-02130-0.