Fig. 5

a Interface surface area for cellulose (C), lignin (L), and enzymes (E), their means values (for \(t>800\) ns) labeled above the curves. The % fraction of interface area over the total surface area of a species is also labeled below the curves. b Pictorial representation of the final configuration of the simulation, showing the positions of lignins (blue) and enzymes (green) on the hydrophobic surface of the nine cellulose fibrils (black line). The average “procession length” (distance along the fibril between two lignin clusters) depends on the type of fibril. CH fibrils have the shortest procession lengths (3.5 nm), CL fibrils intermediate (5.5 nm), and NonC the longest (9.2 nm)