Chemical imaging of lignocellulosic biomass: Mapping plant chemistry

Lignocellulosic biomass (LB), which encompasses various plant samples, requires thorough characterization to optimize its use as a carbon resource. Chemical imaging simultaneously provides chemical and spatial information, offering significant benefits for LB analysis. This review presents an overview of the most advanced techniques for achieving this goal. By combining spectrometry and microscopy, microspectroscopy enables chemical imaging using various irradiation sources (IR, Raman, fluorescence, among others), allowing for the quantitative mapping of key LB components such as lignins, cellulose, and hemicelluloses. Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MSI) generates a mass spectrum for each spot of a sample thereby creating a chemical image pixel-by-pixel. MSI techniques like Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization (MALDI), down to 2–5 μm spatial resolution, and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS), down to 300 nm for molecular analysis, effectively map small molecules in LB. In contrast, Desorption ElectroSpray Ionization (DESI) has been applied to plant extracts but remains largely unexplored for LB applications. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) provides insight into various LB properties too. Solid-state NMR (ssNMR) and Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) help elucidate the structure of LB, sometimes aided by 3D atomistic modeling, whereas micro–Magnetic Resonance Imaging (micro-MRI) and Time-Domain (TD-NMR) probe the impact of water on LB properties.