Influence of fungal pretreatment on thermogravimetric characteristics and fast pyrolysis vapors of corn stover

White rot fungi with different degradation patterns may have different effects on the thermal characteristics and pyrolysis products of biomass. Therefore, the influences of two fungal pretreatments with different degradation effects on thermal characteristics and pyrolysis products of corn stover were investigated. Auricularia polytricha AP degraded lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose with lignocellulolytic enzymes. Stereum hirsutum ZT had no ability to degrade hemicellulose and lignin, despite its higher xylanase activity. Thermogravimetry and kinetic parameter analysis demonstrated that the initial pyrolysis temperature and activation energies of corn stover treated by fungi were lower than that of untreated corn stover. Pyrolysis-gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy analysis suggested that differences within pyrolysis vapors could be observed between biopretreated and untreated corn stover, and that the degradation pattern of fungi made a difference to the pyrolysis products.