Journal of Energy Bioscience 2024, Vol.15, No.1, 20-27 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/jeb 24 Bagasse fiber is widely used in the production of composite materials such as fiber-reinforced polymers, fiberboards and bioplastics. In addition, after being activated and modified by alkali, bagasse ash can be used as an admixture for concrete and cement to improve its durability and mechanical properties. These composites show significant potential in the construction, packaging and automotive industries. After fine processing of sugarcane bagasse fiber, new materials such as nanocellulose and carbon nanodots can be prepared. As an environmentally friendly material, nanocellulose can be used in reinforced plastics, papermaking, coatings and other fields. Carbon nanodots are used in high-tech fields such as sensors, optoelectronic devices and drug delivery. In addition, through pyrolysis or carbonization processes, sugarcane bagasse can be converted into biochar and activated carbon, which can be used to absorb heavy metals and pollutants. Since bagasse fiber has high specific surface area and excellent adsorption properties, it is widely used in wastewater treatment and adsorption of pollutants such as heavy metals and dyes. Pretreated and modified bagasse fiber exhibits high adsorption capacity for a variety of pollutants, making it a low-cost, renewable adsorbent option in the water treatment industry (Ajala et al., 2021). Bagasse's fibrous content and high organic content make it an excellent soil amendment, improving soil fertility, water retention and aeration. In addition, it can be mixed with other fertilizers and used as organic fertilizer for crop cultivation to improve yield and quality. Sugarcane bagasse can be converted into a variety of high value-added chemicals and materials through reasonable pretreatment and processing techniques, providing broad prospects for the value-added utilization of sugarcane by-products. 3 Value-added Utilization of Molasses 3.1 Sugarcane ethanol and biofuel production Molasses is a sugar-rich by-product with important value-added potential in ethanol production and biofuels. Each ton of sugar cane can produce 2.2%~3.7% molasses during the sugar production process, which contains a large amount of fermentable sugars, such as sucrose, glucose and fructose. This makes it an ideal raw material for ethanol production, providing the possibility for recycling and sustainable development of the sugarcane industry (Jamir et al., 2021). The ethanol production process typically includes steps such as molasses pretreatment, yeast fermentation, and distillation. During the pretreatment stage, the molasses is diluted and supplemented with necessary nutrients such as nitrogen sources (such as ammonium sulfate) and acidifiers (such as sulfuric acid) to promote the growth of yeast and inhibit the growth of unwanted microorganisms. The diluted molasses is then fed into large fermenters where it is fermented by yeast. Finally, the fermentation broth is distilled to obtain ethanol (also known as distilled alcohol or commercial alcohol) with a purity of more than 90%. If anhydrous ethanol needs to be produced, further dehydration is required (Hawaz et al., 2023). In molasses ethanol production, yeast fermentation and process parameter optimization are crucial. In recent years, researchers have achieved efficient conversion of sugars in molasses by optimizing fermentation conditions, such as molasses concentration, temperature, pH value and yeast strain selection. For example, Meyerozyma caribbica strain shows significant acid and high sugar tolerance, achieving a yeast density of 9.52×10^8 cells/mL at a molasses concentration of 12°Bx, and effectively converts sugars in molasses into ethanol. According to data, oil produced using sugarcane juice enzymatic hydrolyzate and glucose as raw materials can be used to prepare biodiesel. Under the same preparation conditions, the main components are hexadecenoic acid methyl ester (C17H34O2), 9,12-palmitic acid methyl ester (C19H34O2) and 9-octadecenoic acid methyl ester (C19H36O2). These components make up more than 90% of biodiesel. Therefore, the main components of fatty acid methyl esters produced from sugar cane and glucose are similar. In addition, the physical and chemical properties of diesel mainly depend on its main components, so this also shows that the physical and chemical properties of diesel are similar or similar (Table 1) (Hawaz et al., 2023).
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