Research Articles

In this study the tropical light hardwood species jelutong (Dyera costulata), terbulan(Endospermum diadenum), batai (Paraserianthes moluccana), rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis), and pulai (Alstonia pneumatophora) were treated with benzene diazonium salt to improve their dynamic Young’s modulus (Ed), and thermal stability. Benzine diazonium salt reacted with cellulose in wood and produced 2,6-diazocellulose by a coupling reaction, as confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Values of Ed were calculated from the free-free flexural vibration method and found to increase on treatment. The morphological properties were studied by FTIR and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and found to be changed. Thermal properties of treated wood samples were evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The treated wood samples exhibited an increased thermal stability relative to the untreated wood samples; this increase may be related to the formation of 2, 6-diazo cellulose compound.

This study was centered on finding a locally sourced alternative to imported long-fibre pulp for Nigerian pulp and paper mills. Fibre characteristics, chemical composition, and paper properties of pulp handsheets at different levels of kappa number and freeness in the range of 10 oSR and 62 oSR were evaluated using air-dried bast fibre obtained from decorticated kenaf plants grown in southern guinea savanna near Jebba, Nigeria. Kenaf bast fibre compared well with softwood, with an average fibre length of 2.90 mm, a flexibility ratio of 57%, and a Runkel ratio of 0.76. Ash, lignin, and pentosan contents were 0.6%, 12.5%, and 10.6%, respectively, while the cellulose content was 55.5%. Under alkali charge of 15.0 and, sulphidity of 17.5 with constant temperature, cooking time, and liquor-to-fibre ratio of 4.5:1, the screen yield was between 48.8 to 52.8 % with kappa number 12.04 to 20.5. Unbleached pulpsheets at kappa number between 15 and18.5 and pulp freeness 55 oSR and bleached pulp freeness between 148 and 336 mLs had better quality paper in terms of overall pulpsheet strength properties.

Extrusion can be a viable continuous biomass pretreatment that industry can adopt readily due to its uniqueness (including pretreatment time less than 90 s) over other pretreatment methods. The current study was undertaken to evaluate the combined effect of alkali soaking and extrusion of big bluestem to improve the sugar recovery to nearly quantitative. In order to evaluate the combined effect of alkali soaking and extrusion on the performance of enzymatic saccharification, big bluestem (2-10 mm) was soaked in different alkali concentrations (0.5-2.5 % w/v NaOH) for 30 min at room temperature and then extruded using a lab scale single screw extruder at various barrel temperatures (45-225°C) and screw speeds (20-200 rpm). Statistical analyses confirmed that all the independent variables considered had a significant effect on sugar recovery. A proposed quadratic model to predict sugar recovery had high F and R2 values with a low p value, and adequately represented the relationship among the independent variables on sugar recovery. The optimum pretreatment condition found was the following: 90°C barrel temperature, 155 rpm screw speed, 2.0% alkali concentration, and 4 mm particle size resulted the maximum glucose, xylose, and combined sugar recovery of 90.1, 91.5, and 89.9%, respectively.

The usage of non-wood pulps in furnishes for the production of various paper grades is a real alternative for the substitution of wood pulp in papermaking. In terms of the papermaking process, the main limiting factor for non-wood pulp utilization is poor dewatering. This problem can be partially solved by means of retention aids, and the modern microparticle-based retention aids are very promising for this application. In this study the main aim was to characterize how the microparticle retention systems affect the retention, dewatering, and formation of a non-wood pulp furnish and how these effects and mechanisms differ when compared to normal wood pulp. The performance of several commercially available retention aids was studied by making dynamic sheet forming tests for reference and an organosolv wheat straw furnish. The emphasis in the experiments was on drainage enhancement. The maximum drainage gain obtained with the bentonite-CPAM retention aid system was about 5%. Despite the improved drainage, dewatering of the reference furnish was better than for the non-wood containing furnish.

The assessment of wood biomass density through multivariate modeling of mid-infrared spectra can be useful for interpreting the relationship between feedstock density and functional groups. This study looked at predicting feedstock density from mid-infrared spectra and interpreting the multivariate models. The wood samples possessed a random cell wall orientation, which would be typical of wood chips in a feedstock process. Principal component regression and multiple linear regression models were compared both before and after conversion of the raw spectra into the 1st derivative. A principal component regression model from 1st derivative spectra exhibited the best calibration statistics, while a multiple linear regression model from the 1st derivative spectra yielded nearly similar performance. Earlywood and latewood based spectra exhibited significant differences in carbohydrate-associated bands (1000 and 1060 cm-1). Only statistically significant principal component terms (alpha less than 0.05) were chosen for regression; likewise, band assignments only originated from statistically significant principal components. Cellulose, lignin, and hemicelllose associated bands were found to be important in the prediction of wood density.

Hardwood soda-AQ pulps are believed to be rich in benzyl sugar ethers (BSE) that can be partially cleaved by aqueous acidic treatments. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the effect of acidolysis on final bleached brightness for kraft and soda-AQ (SAQ) hardwood pulps. The increase in final brightness due to acidolysis at 110 °C was twice as high for a eucalyptus SAQ pulp as compared to the kraft pulp. An oxygen delignified maple C-SAQ pulp (carbonate pre-treated SAQ) was acidolyzed at 120 °C and pH 2.6 for 30 min. When 1.60% ClO2 + 0.25% H2O2 on pulp was used in DEPD final bleaching of the control sample a brightness of 91.5% was achieved. When only 1.00% ClO2 + 0.25% H2O2 on pulp was used for the acidolyzed sample a brightness of 92.0% was attained. Analyses of the maple pulp after the acidolysis showed no major change in lignin content, brightness, or pulp yield. The minor changes suggest that a facile reaction such as benzyl ether cleavage was responsible for the improved bleachability. Preliminary research involving a lignin model compound and commercial birch xylan showed that lignin-carbohydrate condensation products were generated under SAQ cooking conditions. Furthermore, a fraction of these lignin-carbohydrate moieties were subsequently cleaved by acidolysis at pH 2.5 and 105 °C.

Recently, the use of nanoparticles in Wood Plastic Composites (WPCs) has been considered by researchers. In this study, Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) were compounded with PVC, wood-flour, and foaming agent in an internal mixer. The wood flour amount was constant at 40 phr. For CNT and chemical foaming agent , different levels of 0, 1, 2 phr and 0, 3, 6 phr were considered respectively. The samples were foamed via batch process using a compression molding machine at 180°C. Morphology, density, water absorption, thickness swelling, and tensile properties of foamed composites were evaluated as a function of CNT and chemical foaming agent contents. The experimental results indicated that in the presence of CNT, cell density increased and cell size decreased. Density of the foamed composites was not affected by chemical foaming agent contents. Water absorption and thickness swelling of samples were decreased as compared with wood plastic composite without CNTs. Also, the maximum tensile strength and modulus were increased by up to 20% and 23% respectively.

Crude recombinant Paenibacillus endoglucanase was employed to investigate its ability to gain access into and to degrade spruce pulps having different lignin and pentosan contents. Since yeast extract is commonly present in the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation processes as a nitrogen source, its effect on the accessibility and degradability of crude endoglucanase was examined. Pulps with more lignin contents adsorbed more overall proteins. More protein impurities other than the recombinant Paenibacillus endoglucanase were found to be preferentially adsorbed on the surfaces of pulp with higher lignin contents. The addition of yeast extracts further enhanced the above trends, which might reduce the non-productive binding by pulp lignin. Pulps with more lignin contents were more difficult to be degraded by the crude endoglucanase; the reductions of degree of polymerization (DP) for pulps were more sensitive to the dosage of endoglucanase applied. The presence of yeast extracts increased the DP degradation rate constants, but decreased the release of reducing sugars during hydrolysis for pulp with higher lignin contents.

In recent years studies concerning the applications of lignocellulosic/ inorganic couples have resulted in the development of an interesting class of functional materials. In this work a cellulose/NbOPO4.nH2O hybrid using cellulose from surgacane bagasse was prepared and characterized in order to test for adsorption applications. The preparation process was conducted by carrying out metallic niobium dilution in hydrofluoric acid in the presence of nitric acid, then adding boric acid to form the complex and, finally, the cellulose sugar cane bagasse was added. Concentrated phosphoric acid was also inserted to precipitate hydrous niobium phosphate particles in the cellulose fiber. This material was characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), thermogravimetry (TG/DTG), and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) connected to an energy dispersive spectrophotometer (EDS). Results by SEM/EDS show that NbOPO4.nH2O was present in structure of the cellulose. During the preparation of the material, using boric acid it was observed that the formation of precipitate occurred in a shorter time than the material prepared without boric acid.

The objective of this research was to evaluate an all-chemical process to prepare nano-scale to macro-scale cellulosic fibers from kenaf bast fibers, for polymer composite reinforcement. The procedure used in this all-chemical process included alkaline retting to obtain single cellulosic retted fiber, bleaching treatment to obtain delignified bleached fiber, and acidic hydrolysis to obtain both pure-cellulose microfiber and cellulose nanowhisker (CNW). At each step of this chemical process, the resultant fibers were characterized for crystallinity using X-ray diffraction (XRD), for functional groups using the Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and for surface morphology using both the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The chemical components of the different scale fibers were analyzed. Based on the raw kenaf bast fibers, the yields of retted fibers and bleached fibers were 44.6% and 41.4%. The yield of the pure cellulose microfibers was 26.3%. The yield of CNWs was 10.4%, where about 22.6% α-cellulose had been converted into CNWs. The fiber crystallinity increased as the scale of the fiber decreased, from 49.9% (retted single fibers) to 83.9% (CNWs). The CNWs had fiber lengths of 100 nm to 1400 nm, diameters of 7 to 84 nm, and aspect ratios of 10 to 50. The incorporation of 9% (wt%) CNWs in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composites increased the tensile strength by 46%.