abstract
Instant catapult steam explosion (ICSE) offers enormous physical force on lignocellulosic biomass due to
its extremely short depressure duration. In this article, the response surface methodology was applied to
optimize the effect of working parameters including pressure, maintaining time and mass loading on the
crystallinity index and glucose yield of the pretreated corn stover. It was found that the pressure was of
essential importance, which determined the physical force that led to the morphological changes without
significant chemical reactions, and on the other hand the maintaining time mainly contributed to the
thermo-chemical reactions. Furthermore, the pretreated biomass was assessed by scanning electron
microscope, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectra to understand mechanisms underlying
the ICSE pretreatment.