The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology researchers have discovered the solution to producing ethanol from cellulosic biomass, which was tough because of the nature of the cellulosic structure – toughness. It is also resistant to chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis and insoluble in most solvents.
The researchers have discovered that cellulose undergoes a transformation to an amorphous gel-like form from its crystalline form, which is very similar to a starch gel. This transformation happens in water at high temperature of 320° C and pressure 25 (MPa).
When heated in water to around 70° C, starch forms a gel, converting starch to glucose. This glucose then can be easily fermented to create ethanol.
