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Effect of cationic surfactants alkyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) with varied alkyl chain lengths on the enzymatic hydrolysis of Avicel and the surface charge of cellulase was investigated. Enzymatic hydrolysis of Avicel increased linearly from 42.1 to 61.4 % with the increase of the concentration of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) logarithmically from 0.0001 to 0.01 mM, and reached a maximum value at the concentration of 0.01-0.03 mM. When the concentration was increased further, the cellulase solution became positively charged and the enzymatic hydrolysis of Avicel decreased rapidly. With the increasing alkyl chain length, CTAB provided more proton and neutralized the negative charge of cellulase more obviously. Therefore, the required concentration of CTAB could be less to enhance the enzymatic hydrolysis of Avicel. In addition, CTAB could enhance enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency of corncob at high solid content from 35.0 to 56.3 %; CTAB could reduce about 60 % of the cellulase loading in the enzymatic hydrolysis of corncob to obtain the same glucose yield. Effect of CTAB on the enzymatic hydrolysis of typical pretreated softwood and hardwood was also investigated. This study laid the foundation for using CTAB to recover cellulase, and provided the design direction for cellulase with higher activity and better stability by adjusting its hydrophilicity and chargeability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]