Many animals have the ability to search for odor sources by tracking their plumes. Some of the key features of this search behavior have been successfully trans...

Lignin is a natural polymer, one that has an abundant and renewable resource in biomass. Due to a tendency towards the use of biochemicals, the efficient utilization of lignin has gained wide attention. The delignification of lignocellulosic biomass makes its fractions (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) susceptible to easier transformation to many different commodities like energy, chemicals, and materials that could be produced using the biorefinery concept. This review gives an overview of the field of lignin separation from lignocellulosic biomass and changes that occur in the biomass during this process, as well as taking a detailed look at the influence of parameters that lead the process of dissolution. According to recent studies, a number of ionic liquids (ILs) have shown a level of potential for industrial scale production in terms of the pretreatment of biomass. ILs are perspective green solvents for pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass. These properties in ILs enable one to disrupt the complex structure of lignocellulose. In addition, the physicochemical properties of aprotic and protic ionic liquids (PILs) are summarized, with those properties making them suitable solvents for lignocellulose pretreatment which, especially, target lignin. The aim of the paper is to focus on the separation of lignin from lignocellulosic biomass, by keeping all components susceptible for biorefinery processes. The discussion includes interaction mechanisms between lignocellulosic biomass subcomponents and ILs to increase the lignin yield. According to our research, certain PILs have potential for the cost reduction of LC biomass pretreatment on the feasible separation of lignin.

Bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass is still struggling with many obstacles. One of them is lignocellulosic inhibitors. The aim of this review is to discuss the most known inhibitors. Additionally, the review addresses different detoxification methods to degrade or to remove inhibitors from lignocellulosic hydrolysates. Inhibitors are formed during the pretreatment of biomass. They derive from the structural polymers-cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. The formation of inhibitors depends on the pretreatment conditions. Inhibitors can have a negative influence on both the enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation of lignocellulosic hydrolysates. The inhibition mechanisms can be, for example, deactivation of enzymes or impairment of vital cell structures. The toxicity of each inhibitor depends on its chemical and physical properties. To decrease the negative effects of inhibitors, different detoxification methods have been researched. Those methods focus on the chemical modification of inhibitors into less toxic forms or on the separation of inhibitors from lignocellulosic hydrolysates. Each detoxification method has its limitations on the removal of certain inhibitors. To choose a suitable detoxification method, a deep molecular understanding of the inhibition mechanism and the inhibitor formation is necessary.