The members of the genus Miscanthus are potential feedstocks for biofuels because of the promising high yields of biomass per unit of planted area. This review addresses species, cultivation, and lignocellulose composition of Miscanthus, as well as pretreatment and enzyme saccharification of Miscanthus biomass for ethanol fermentation. The average cellulose contents in dried biomass of Miscanthus floridulus, Miscanthus sinensis, Miscanthus sacchariflorus, and Miscanthus × giganteus (M × G) are 37.2, 37.6, 38.9, and 41.1% wt/wt, respectively. A number of pretreatment methods have been applied in order to enhance digestibility of Miscanthus biomass for enzymatic saccharification. Pretreatment of Miscanthus using liquid hot water or alkaline results in a significant release of glucose; while glucose yields can be 90% or higher if a pretreatment like AFEX that combines both chemical and physical processes is used. As ethanol is produced by yeast fermentation of the hydrolysate from enzymatic hydrolysis of residual solids (pulp) after pretreatment, theoretical ethanol yields are 0.211-0.233 g/g-raw biomass if only cellulose is taken into account. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of pretreated M × G and M. lutarioriparius results in experimental ethanol yields of 0.13 and 0.15 g/g-raw biomass, respectively. Co-production of value-added products can reduce the overall production cost of bioethanol.

Due to its fast‐growing and high carbohydrate content, Napier grass has a great potential to be chosen as a raw material for renewable energy production. The Napier grass after different pretreatments was tested for simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) with dried yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and cellulase (CTec2) to produce ethanol. For alkaline pretreatment, the grass was incubated with 10% NaOH at a ratio of 1:20 (w/v) at 90°C for 1 hour. For dilute acid pretreatment, the grass was soaked with 1% H2SO4 at a ratio of 1:10 (w/v) and incubated at 120°C for 1 hour. For the two‐stage pretreatment, the resultant solid from dilute acid pretreatment was further treated with 2% NaOH (1:10 w/v) at 80°C for 6 hours. After enzymatic saccharification at 50°C and pH 5.0 for 96 hours using CTec2, yields of glucose from three pretreated Napier grass samples (10% water‐insoluble solids, WIS) were 75.4 ± 2.9%, 55.4 ± 6.5%, and 76.4 ± 5.0%. Using 10% WIS of alkaline‐pretreated Napier grass biomass as the substrate, the 72‐hour SSF led to an ethanol yield of 86.6 ± 3.4%. On the basis of the dried biomass of Napier grass as the raw material, the ethanol yield could reach 0.143 ± 0.006 (g/g). Napier grass biomass could be effectively treated by alkaline, dilute acid, or two‐stage pretreatment methods to remove non‐cellulosic components to some extent. Alkaline pretreatment was found to be superior to dilute acid and two‐stage pretreatment methods, based on ethanol yields obtained under similar SSF conditions.

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Magnetic microspheres with ion-exchange features were prepared by applying a swelling and penetration process using polystyrene-divinylbenzene-based anion-exchange resins as starting materials. The polymeric anion-exchange particles were swollen with an aqueous solution of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, followed by incubation with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles to allow them to penetrate into the swollen particles. The pH value in the solution of magnetic nanoparticles could significantly influence the uptake of magnetic nanoparticles by the swollen anion-exchange particles. Higher amounts of magnetic nanoparticles entrapped within anion exchangers could be achieved at pH 10-12. An increase in the concentration of magnetic nanoparticles led to a higher density of magnetic nanoparticles entrapped within the interior of anion exchangers and, thus, higher magnetization of the magnetic anion exchangers. Loading of the magnetic nanoparticles onto the exchanger had no effect on anion-exchange functionality. The utility of the resulting magnetic anion-exchange resins was demonstrated for the isolation of plasmid pEGFP-C1 from Escherichia coli cell lysates. The magnetic anion-exchange microspheres could be easily collected within a few seconds in a magnetic field. Thus, automation of the protocol for DNA isolation using these magnetic anion-exchange resins has a high potential. V C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40725.

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