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Microscopic And Laboratory Scale Characterization Methods To Evaluate Biomass Deconstruction, Meenaa Chandrasekar

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Renewable fuels from lignocellulosic biomass are an appealing option because they can seamlessly integrate into the existing fuel distribution infrastructure. Lignocellulosic biomass constitutes nonedible plant material obtained from plant cell walls. The natural recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass poses a challenge in accessing the cell wall carbohydrates during biochemical conversion. Despite various approaches, enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass remains economically impractical due to incomplete knowledge about biomass recalcitrance and the influence of environmental factors on biomass quality.

The first goal of this dissertation was to construct a microfluidic imaging reactor to better understand the tissue-specific deconstruction of plant materials. Confocal laser …