Preparation of Dissolving Pulp Made from Poplar Residual Slabs and Effect of Xylanase Post-treatment on Its Reactivity

Abstract

The production of dissolving pulp from poplar wood residual slabs was investigated. The residual slab chips were initially prehydrolyzed and subsequently pulped by the kraft process; the resulting brownstock was bleached using a totally chlorine-free (TCF) sequence to full brightness. The pulp contained low pentosans and high α-cellulose content, and the pulp had high reactivity. Its hemicellulose content, reactivity, and degree of polymerization were within acceptable levels for a rayon-grade dissolving pulp. Thus, the residual slabs from poplar can be regarded as a viable raw material for dissolving pulp production. The reactivity of this dissolving pulp was drastically decreased after the xylanase post-treatment, which can slightly lower the pentosans levels. Simultaneously, the crystallinity index of the resulting pulp obviously decreased after xylanase post-treatment.