Basic research about corncob residue as Lyocell spinning material

Abstract

Using the corncob residue as a new cheaper source material for Lyocell spinning technology. Chemical properties of the corncob residue after extraction of hemicellulose and lignin were investigated in this paper. It was found that the main composition of corncob residue is cellulose, accompanied by slight hemicellulose and very tiny amount of spinning insoluble components. Compared to wood pulp, corncob residue has a similar number-average molecular weight, a slightly larger weight-average molecular weight, a lower peak-relative molecular weight, and a larger polydispersity. All those properties suggest that this kind of corncob residue has big potential to be used as spinning material for regenerated cellulose fiber. A new type corncob residue made fiber was produced, using the Lyocell spinning technology. Mechanical properties of the corncob residue fiber were analyzed. The corncob residue fiber has a tensile strength value between that of viscose fiber and Lyocell fiber, indicating its good application prospects. However, the corncob residue fiber has a high crystallinity and the orientation value with large fiber linear density, suggesting that the spinning technology needs to be further improved.