Biomass is a composite of cellulose (~44%), hemicelluloses (~30%) and lignin (~26%) linked together via hydrogen and covalent bonds. Wood and agricultural residues, and dedicated energy crops are the main forms of biomass feedstock. Although dedicated energy crops such as short-rotation woody crops and herbaceous crops (primarily tall grasses) seem to be the largest and most promising future resource of biomass, existing agricultural residues, such as corn stover, are an obvious source of biomass especially for the near term.
At the CCRC Analytical Services we have successfully collaborated with the leading alternative energy research institutions such as NREL to study plant biomass structure and effects of various pretreatment procedures on plant cell wall structure.
At the CCRC Analytical Services we collaborate with researchers from academic institutions or industrial companies to help them analyze biomass structural alterations caused by pretreatment processes, analyze mutant plants in comparison to their wild type counterparts to see effects of genetic modification on plant cell wall structure.
Also, collaborative research on biofuel generated from algae is underway at the CCRC Analytical Services.
Keywords: Biomass, NMR-spectroscopy, glycosyl composition and linkage, Mass-spectrometry, HPLC, HPAEC, analytical techniques