A new method was developed to determine glucosamine (GlcN) and N-acetyl glucosamine (GlcNAc) in materials containing chitin and chitosan, such as fungal cell walls. It is based on two steps of hydrolysis with (i) concentrated sulfuric acid at low temperature and (ii) dilute sulfuric acid at high temperature, followed by one-step degradation with nitrous acid. In this process, chitin and chitosan are converted into anhydromannose and acetic acid. Anhydromannose represents the sum of GlcN and GlcNAc, whereas acetic acid is a marker for GlcNAc only. The method showed recovery of 90.1% of chitin and 85.7-92.4% of chitosan from commercial preparations. Furthermore, alkali insoluble material (AIM) from biomass of three strains of zygomycetes, Rhizopus oryzae, Mucor indicus, and Rhizomucor pusillus, was analyzed by this method. The glucosamine contents of AIM from R. oryzae and M. indicus were almost constant (41.7 +/- 2.2% and 42.0 +/- 1.7%, respectively), while in R. pusillus, it decreased from 40.0 to 30.0% during cultivation from 1 to 6 days. The GlcNAc content of AIM from R. oryzae and R. pusillus increased from 24.9 to 31.0% and from 36.3 to 50.8%, respectively, in 6 days, while it remained almost constant during the cultivation of M. indicus (23.5 +/- 0.8%).

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Pretreatment of high-crystalline cellulose with N-methyl-morpholine-N-oxide (NMO or NMMO) to improve bioethanol and biogas production was investigated. The pretreatments were performed at 90 and 120 degrees C for 0.5-15 h in three different modes, including dissolution (85% NMO), ballooning (79% NMO), and swelling (73% NMO). The pretreated materials were then enzymatically hydrolyzed and fermented to ethanol or anaerobically digested to biogas (methane). The pretreatment at 85% NMO, 120 degrees C and 2.5 h resulted in 100% yield in the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis and around 150% improvement in the yield of ethanol compared to the untreated and water-treated material. However, the best results of biogas production were obtained when the cellulose was treated with swelling and ballooning mode, which gave almost complete digestion in 15 days. Thus, the pretreatment resulted in 460 g ethanol or 415 L methane from each kg of cellulose. Analysis of the structure of treated and untreated celluloses showed that the dissolution mode can efficiently convert the crystalline cellulose I to cellulose II. However, it decreases the water swelling capacity of the cellulose. On the other hand, swelling and ballooning modes in NMO treatment were less efficient in both water swelling capacity and cellulose crystallinity. No cellulose loss, ambient pressure, relatively moderate conditions, and high efficiency make the NMO a good alternative for pretreatment of high-crystalline cellulosic materials.

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Alkali-dissolution pretreatment of softwood spruce and hardwood birch to improve ethanol and biogas production was investigated. The pretreatments were carried out at different temperatures between −15 and 80• C with NaOH/thiourea (7/5.5 wt%), NaOH/urea (7/12 wt%), NaOH/urea/thiourea (7/8/6.5 wt%), and NaOH/PEG (7/1 wt%) aqueous solutions. The pretreated materials were then subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis for 72 h. The pretreatments by NaOH/thiourea at −15• C improved the hydrolysis yields of spruce from 11.7% to 57% of theoretical yield, and for birch from 23.

Pretreatment of cellulose with an industrial cellulosic solvent, N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide, showed promising results in increasing the rate of subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. Cotton linter was used as high crystalline cellulose. After the pretreatment, the cellulose was almost completely hydrolyzed in less than 12 h, using low enzyme loading (15 FPU/g cellulose). The pretreatment significantly decreased the total crystallinity of cellulose from 7.1 to 3.3, and drastically increased the enzyme adsorption capacity of cellulose by approximately 42 times. A semi-mechanistic model was used to describe the relationship between the cellulose concentration and the enzyme loading. In this model, two reactions for heterogeneous reaction of cellulose to glucose and cellobiose, and a homogenous reaction for cellobiose conversion to glucose was incorporated. The Langmuir model was applied to model the adsorption of cellulase onto the treated cellulose. The competitive inhibition was also considered for the effects of sugar inhibition on the rate of enzymatic hydrolysis. The kinetic parameters of the model were estimated by experimental results and evaluated.

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a novel technology that can be used for electricity generation during oxidization of the organic substances presented in the substrate. To obtain a desirable performance, it is essential to understand the influential factors on the MFC. Among the numerous factors affecting the MFC performance, substrate, microorganisms and their metabolism, electron transfer mechanism in an anodic chamber, electrodes material and the shape of electrodes, type of membrane, operating conditions such as temperature, pH and salinity, electron acceptor in a cathodic chamber and geometric design of the MFC are considered as the most important factors. Among different substrates, wastewater is a sustainable rich medium which can be treated by MFCs. There are various types of exoelectrogenic bacteria presented in wastewaters which can oxidize organic matter and transfer electrons to the anode without using mediators. Like other microbial systems, optimum pH and temperature enhance the bacterial growth which can improve the MFC performance. Despite the negative effect of salt on microbial growth, higher salinity and ionic strength can increase the conductivity of substrate and therefore enhance MFC performance. Scaling up MFC is a controversial issue which needs a comprehensive understanding of these factors. By using new inexpensive materials for electrodes and membrane for manufacturing MFCs, a more cost-effective design for scalable wastewater treatment and high power generation can be achieved. Furthermore, MFC is a suitable candidate for bioremediation of contaminated groundwater. These factors and their impact on the MFC performance have been reviewed in the present survey.