Molecular Imprinted Silica for Separation of Sugars From Cellulosic Biomass

Improvement of sugar yields in the hydrolysis step of cellulosic biomass conversion to biofuels partly depends on the separation of the inhibition products (e.g glucose, xylose and cellobiose). The separation of these saccharides will allow a more efficient conversion to ethanol as well as new revenue streams. Molecular imprinted silica is synthesized by nanocasting in a sol-gel procedure using glucose as template. After surfactant extraction the silica materials may possess sites that can recognize glucose molecules. FTIR analysis on washed and unwashed samples of silica confirmed the removal of the sugar template. The imprinted silica materials possess large surface area which correlates with the amount of sugar template used. This presentation will compare adsorption of glucose in glucose-imprinted and non-imprinted silica materials, and determine cellulase enzyme adsorption by the glucose-imprinted silica material and its effects on enzyme activity.