1074 Characterization Methods and Techniques
Noppadon Sathitsuksanoh^1 and Scott Renneckar^2(^1) University of Louisville, Department of Chemical Engineering, Louisville, KY, USA
(^2) Virginia Tech, Department of Sustainable Biomaterials, Blacksburg, VA, USA
4.1 Philosophy Statement
Humans are entering a new age when we can have significant control over the genomic
make-up of plants and organisms that can operate on biomass. Understanding phys-
iochemical characteristics of plant biomass helps us in the upstream and downstream
processes. In the upstream process, information of plant biomass’ characteristics
aids in engineering them to have desirable traits including drought resistance or
in plantaproduction of metabolites such as cancer drugs. For downstream process, the
characteristic information of plant biomass aids us in designing the pathways to break
and transform them into valuable products. Herein, we learn what information these
selected characterization methods and techniques for plant biomass provide and how
to interpret and use those information.4.2 Understanding the Characteristics of Biomass
Plants contain stored solar energy in the form of glucose that is transformed into a host
of other compounds and materials such as polysaccharides, lipids, and lignins. Glucose
is used to power cell metabolism and is the precursor for the structural polymers of
the plant wall. The simplicity of the ingredients in photosynthesis of water and carbon
dioxide results in the plant consisting of the primary elements of carbon, hydrogen,
and oxygen; however, plants also require nitrogen and sulfur and other trace elements
such as calcium and potassium. Nitrogen and sulfur are necessary for the formation
of proteins that encode the life of the plant, while the metals form ions that assist in
membrane transport and catalytic sites in cellular enzymes. During the growth of the
plant, these compounds are woven into the complex tapestry of the biomass cell wall
and this chapter explores methods to characterize this complex material.
Although the compounds in the cell wall start out as a simple carbohydrate of
glucose, this is only a building block that is modified, polymerized, and transformed
into the structural polymers that support the plant. Additional extraneous materials
are formed that lend the plant defense against attacking organisms, such as terpenoids,Introduction to Renewable Biomaterials: First Principles and Concepts,First Edition.
Edited by Ali S. Ayoub and Lucian A. Lucia.
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2018 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.