Effect of Temperature on Dilute Acid Pre-treatment of Waste Cotton Fabrics for Glucose Recovery

Abstract

The present study explores the possibility of using waste cotton fabrics (WCF) as a potential feedstock for the production of glucose by dilute acid pre-treatment and evaluation of the effect of temperature on glucose recovery. The WCF at 1% (w/v) solid loading was pre-treated with five different concentrations of dilute sulfuric acid from 1 to 5% (v/v) at 100°C for 30 and 60 minutes. The glucose production from WCF increased with the increase in temperature, time and concentrations of dilute sulphuric acid pre-treatment. The rate of increase in cellulose hydrolysis of WCF with the temperature over time was higher for pre-treatment with concentrations of 1-3% dilute sulfuric acid than 4 and 5%. The temperature of 100°C improved recovery rate of glucose from 60 min hydrolysis of WCF with 1,2,3,4 and 5% dilute acid concentrations by 2.93 folds, 2.21 folds, 1.63 folds, 1.91 folds and 1.73 folds respectively. The structural changes of WCF by dilute acid pre-treatments were confirmed by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis.