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In order to study the effect of minerals on biomass pyrolysis, experiments on pyrolysis of corn straw with different pretreatment methods were performed by using a thermogravimetric analyzer(TGA) coupled with a Fourier transform infrared( FTIR) spectrometer. The pretreatment methods included water washing and acid washing. The experimental results show that acid washing can remove almost all K(+) and 78% of Ca(2+) while water washing only removes most of K(+). The existence of K(+) and Ca(2+) obviously favors the formation of compounds containing carbonyl groups and CO(2), but it will decrease the yields of compounds containing C-O-C groups. However, the formation of H(2)O, CO and CH(4) are slightly affected by the removal of inorganic ions. With regard to the structure of the metal ions-adsorbed cellulose characterized by IR analysis, it can be considered that there is an "ion force" between metal ions and cellulosic biomass. The results of thermal kinetic analysis show that this force can make the reaction activation energy of the biomass pyrolysis decrease. A new mechanism is proposed for explaining the effect of inorganic ions on cellulose pyrolysis.