Dynamics on Cellulose Show Two Important Populations from Neutron Scattering and Simulations

Biomass pretreatment is necessary to make cellulose accessible to hydrolysis for conversion to biofuels. Understanding water’s role in cellulose reactivity will aid discovery of the underlying processes that change biomass morphology and reactivity during different pretreatment regimes for biofuels production. In this study, cellulose-water interactions were examined using neutron scattering supported by molecular dynamics simulation. The data show two distinct populations of water molecules—one tightly “bound” to the surface and the other interfibrillar and translationally mobile. Accurate models of hydration water in the cell wall can address fundamental questions about cellulose-water interactions. The mobility of the interfibrillar water is also important to enzyme and chemical attack and is distinct from the bound and bulk water.

O’Neill, H. M., et al. “Dynamics of Water Bound to Crystalline Cellulose.” Sci. Rep. 7, Article 11840 (2017). [DOI:10.1038/s41598-017-12035-w].

Instruments and Facilities Used: Deuterium labeling, neutron scattering, and molecular dynamics simulation; quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) using BASIS, the Backscattering Spectrometer, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). Structural characterization using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) CG-3 Bio-SANS instrument at High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) facility of ORNL and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis combined with SANS. Wide-Angle X-ray Diffraction (WAXD) using theta-theta goniometer Bruker D5005 instrument; quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) using BASIS, the Backscattering Spectrometer at ORNL SNS; Molecular Dynamics (MD) Simulations (GROMACS software and the CHARMM C36 carbohydrate force field); and TIP4P water model.

Funding Acknowledgements: Deuterium labeling, neutron scattering, and molecular dynamics simulation; quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) using BASIS, the Backscattering Spectrometer, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). Structural characterization using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) CG-3 Bio-SANS instrument at High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) facility, ORNL, and x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis combined with SANS. Wide-angle x-ray diffraction (WAXD) using theta-theta goniometer Bruker D5005 instrument; QENS; molecular dynamics (MD) simulations (GROMACS software and CHARMM C36 carbohydrate force field); and TIP4P water model. H.O’N., J.H., B.E., J.C.S., P.L. and B.H.D. support: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Genomic Science Program, Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER), DOE Office of Science, under Contract FWP ERKP752, for sample preparation and QENS studies. SANS studies on Bio-SANS by S.V.P. and V.U. support: OBER-funded Center for Structural Molecular Biology (CSMB) under Contract FWP ERKP291, using facilities supported by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences (OBES), DOE Office of Science. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations performed by L.P. supported by the Center for Lignocellulose Structure and Formation, an Energy Frontier Research Center, funded by DOE OBES, under Award DE-SC0001090. Research used resources of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), a DOE Office of Science User Facility supported under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. E.M. support: Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL) Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), funded by the DOE OBES Scientific User Facilities Division. Manuscript authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with DOE.