An Exploratory Study of Hydrochar as a Matrix for Biotechnological Applications.

This paper explores the potentialities of hydrochar in protein separation and enzyme immobilization for non-energy biorefinery applications of hydrothermal carbonization. An innovative experimental procedure monitors soluble protein-hydrochar interactions and enzymatic reactions in a continuously stirred tank reactor. The hydrochar comes from hydrothermal carbonization of silver fir (200 °C, 30 min, 1/7 solid/water ratio) and standard activation (KOH, oven, 600 °C).