Valorization of Sugarcane Bagasse through Microwave-Alkaline Pretreatment for Agricultural Waste Management and Biofuel Production
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The environment is essential to human life and survival because it provides everything necessary for existence, development, and well-being. When materials such as agricultural waste are not properly utilized or managed, they become major sources of environmental degradation and health hazards. This study establishes the optimal pretreatment conditions for sugarcane bagasse using microwave-alkaline pretreatment (MAP) to enhance the recovery of cellulose and hemicellulose which are invaluable polysaccharides needed to produce bioethanol. Box–Behnken design (BBD) of Design Expert software version 13 was used to generate the model for the study using microwave power (70–700 W), irradiation time (1–5 min), and NaOH concentration (1%–3% w/v) as process parameters. The adequacy of the model was ascertained by statistical analysis. The pretreated biomass was characterized using XRD, FTIR, and HRSEM. The results indicated that the optimal MAP conditions were 3 % NaOH concentration, power of 96W, and treatment time of 5 mins. At these optimal conditions, 63% of the lignin in sugarcane bagasse was removed, while 74% of the cellulose and 22% of the hemicellulose were retained. There were physicochemical and morphological changes in the pretreated sugarcane bagasse biomass which validate the efficacy of the pretreatment method. Therefore, the present study has established the valorization of waste biomass to produce valuable products using microwave-alkali pretreatment. Overall, the process offers a sustainable pathway for managing agricultural residues while contributing to cleaner environments and renewable energy development. Further studies are recommended to evaluate the scalability of the optimized pretreatment conditions and to assess their economic feasibility in industrial applications.
Institutions: University of Ilesa, Federal University of Technology Minna
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7214436124
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