Carbohydrate Polymers 141 (2016) 20–27 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Carbohydrate Polymers j ourna l ho me pa g e: www.elsevier.com/locate/carbpol Extraction of cellulose from agricultural waste using Montmorillonite K-10/LiOH and its conversion to renewable energy: Biofuel by using Myrothecium gramineum Archana M. Das a,∗ , Manash P. Hazarika a , Monmi Goswami a , Archana Yadav b , Pradip Khound c a Natural Products Chemistry Division, CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat 785 006, Assam, India b Biotechnology Division, CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat 785 006, Assam, India c Analytical Division, CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat 785 006, Assam, India a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 24 July 2015 Received in revised form 23 December 2015 Accepted 28 December 2015 Available online 30 December 2015 Keywords: Cellulose Glucose Rice husk Myrothecium gramineum Bioethanol a b s t r a c t Cellulose was extracted from agricultural waste like Rice Husk (RH) a renewable resource of India as well as in the World. Cellulose was isolated from rice husk (RH) using eco-friendly method with Montmoril- lonite K-10/LiOH solution and bleaching with 2% H 2 O 2 . The reaction parameters like time, temperature, catalyst, acid and alkali were studied to evaluate the optimum reaction conditions 6 h, 80 ◦ C, 20% maleic acid and 10% LiOH (in H 2 O) for time, temperature, acid and alkali, respectively. Renewable energy, biofuel from agricultural waste using Myrothecium gramineum was also investigated herein. Cellulose was con- verted to glucose by using acid hydrolysis and the optimum reaction conditions were 140 ◦ C for 60 min. in presence of H 2 SO 4 (5% v/v). It has been recognized significantly as potential sustainable sources of sugars for fermentation to bioethanol. So, our effort was given to obtain bioethanol from RH using new and novel renewable fungal strain M. gramineum. M. gramineum was isolated from acacia plant available in NE region of India. The results revealed that % yields of cellulose, glucose and bioethanol were 68%, 60% and 25%, respectively. Moreover, the bioethanol was compared with the standard ethanol (Laboratory grade) and also the ethanol produced from the known microb Aspergillus niger. The synthesized products were characterized with the help of analytical techniques like FT-IR, GC, TGA, DSC and XRD. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant renewable biomass on earth, yearly 200 billion tones (approximately) of lignocellulosic biomass supply by worldwide from the forestry, forestry residue, agricultural and agricultural wastes (Sánchez & Cardona, 2008; Yang, Xu, Ma, & Wang, 2008; Ragauskas et al., 2006; McKendry, 2002). Natural products based fuel, energy, and other value added products are currently regarded as a priority area of research worldwide and biofuel is being assumed as a most promis- ing in the recent world. On the other hand, an intense research scrutiny was currently undertaken worldwide to identify attrac- tive chemical transformations to convert biomass into value added products and to develop economically feasible processes for these transformations on a commercial scale (Naik, Goud, Rout, & Dalai, ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 9435489369. E-mail address: archanads2@gmail.com (A.M. Das). 2010). Lignocellulosic biomass is composed of cellulose, hemicellu- loses and lignin as well as other minor components. Among them cellulose is the most abundant renewable organic material pro- duced in the biosphere and widely distributed in higher plants, in several marine animals, and to a lesser degree in algae, fungi, bacteria, invertebrates, and even amoeba (Habibi, Lucia, & Rojas, 2010). Cellulose is a polysaccharide made of d-glucose connected together via ˇ-1,4-glycosidic bonds and is a promising raw material for producing important chemicals, including cellulosic–ethanol, hydrocarbons, and starting materials for the production of polymers (Ragauskas et al., 2006; Hahn-Häegerdal, Galbe, Gorwa- Grauslund, Lidén, & Zacchi, 2006; Mosier, Sarikaya, Ladisch, & Ladisch, 2001). Scientist and researcher’s using different methods for extraction of cellulose like alkali/acid treatment, chlorine-free extraction from different plant materials and plant waste like wheat straw, soy hull, rice husk, oil palm empty fruit bunches etc. (Das, Ali, & Hazarika, 2014; Simone, Rehman, Maria, Miranda, Nachtigall, & Bica Clara, 2012; Nazir, Wahjoedi, Yussof, & Abdullah Mohd., 2013; Alemdar & Sain, 2008). Biofuel production from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2015.12.070 0144-8617/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.