Research at the Center for Molecular Biophysics, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory aims at understanding the composition of the cell wall on the molecular level in order to increase the efficiency of biofuel production.
1 Cellulose (green) and lignin (brown) are two of the major components of the cell wall. The enzyme cellulase (orange) catalyzes the hydrolysis of cellulose. This process can be made use of in the fermentation of biomass into biofuels. (2011) 2 Lignocellulose in the cell wall before pretreatment. Hemicellulose is shown in yellow. (2014) 3 After pretreatment with ionic liquid, much of the lignin is washed away and the cellulose fibers disperse. (2014) 4 Artistic representation of the cell wall with cellulose fibers (green), lignin (brown) and hemicellulose (yellow) (2020)
