LAUSR

Miscanthus is a rich source of lignocellulosic biomass with low mineral content suitable for applications that range from biofuel production to value-added biomass-derived products including a sustainable biosorbent. Herein, Miscanthus and its modified forms were used for the fractionation of water (W) and ethanol (E) mixtures that were analyzed by an in situ analytical method, referred to as quantitative NMR (qNMR) spectroscopy. Miscanthus was pretreated by hydrolysis and subsequent grinding to yield materials with variable biopolymer content (cellulose and lignins) and particle size. The Miscanthus materials were evaluated as sorbents in binary water–ethanol (W-E) mixtures. The maximum biomass adsorption capacity (Qm; g g–1) with water (Qm,W) and ethanol (Qm,E) fractions were determined by the best-fit Sips model parameters listed in parentheses: raw Miscanthus biomass (Qm,W = 8.93 and Qm,E = 4.15) and pretreated Miscanthus biomass (Qm,W = 4.73 and Qm,E = 3.22, g g–1). The fractionation properties of Mi...