Abstract
The mercerization of fiber is an important method for the high-value utilization of cellulose. In this study, the bagasse fiber was mercerized by freeze–thaw-assisted alkali treatment (FT/AT). The effects of freezing temperature, freezing time, alkali concentration, and thawing temperature on cellulose and hemicellulose removal were studied. The optimal freezing temperature was −40°C, freezing time was 8.0 h, alkali concentration was 5.0%, and thawing temperature was 30°C. The highest removal rate of hemicellulose was 75.64%. It was 5.80% higher than that of alkali treatment (AT). The alkaline degradation of cellulose was inhibited. The penetration of alkaline solution to fiber was promoted by the assistance of freeze-thaw pretreatment. The effective alkali concentration (5.0%) of cellulose I completely transformed into cellulose II decreased by 66.67% compared with traditional alkaline mercerization (15.0%). The high-efficiency mercerization of fiber was achieved by FT/AT. It provides theoretical support for promoting the high-value utilization of lignocellulosic biomass.
Highlights
Lignocellulosic biomass plays an important role in the energy, chemical, and material fields because of its zero carbon dioxide emissions, high content, and renewable properties (Luo et al, 2021; Zhu et al, 2020)
The effective swelling of fiber is difficult to achieve at high temperatures
Cellulose and hemicellulose were removed during the fiber swelling process
Summary
Lignocellulosic biomass plays an important role in the energy, chemical, and material fields because of its zero carbon dioxide emissions, high content, and renewable properties (Luo et al, 2021; Zhu et al, 2020). Cellulose is the main component of the lignocellulosic biomass (Bian et al, 2019). Cellulose II is obtained by dissolution/regeneration (Reyes et al, 2020) or mercerization (Marzouki et al, 2019). Smooth and round fibers are obtained by mercerization. Mercerized fibers have good air permeability and chemical stability (Kumar et al, 2011; Oladele et al, 2019). They are widely used in the preparation of air filter paper, dictionary paper, and blotting paper. The color uniformity, fabric surface smoothness, and size stability of the cotton fabric is improved by printing
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