Volume 6 Issue 1

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%.

Paper has a visible market-share in hygiene products either in the form of personal hygiene or as food packaging. The designation “hygiene”, though it suggests cleanliness, does not imply antibacterial properties; rather it can be stated that hygiene products do not initiate microorganism growth. Antibacterial products could restrict propagation of pathogenic bacteria either by holding bacteria or by trapping and neutralizing them. Most research in this field has been conducted using textile fibers as a substrate, but the present work uses paper instead. The objective was to produce an antibacterial filter paper capable of trapping and neutralizing pathogenic microorganisms using wood fibers. To produce antibacterial paper, chitosan and nanosilver capped with PAA (polyacrylic acid) were deposited on the fiber surface using a layer-by-layer technique. Samples for the tests were prepared from refined bleached softwood (RBSW) kraft pulp. The deposition of antibacterial agents on fiber as well as paper were monitored using a zeta potential analyzer (ZPA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIRS). The minimum requirement for deposition of the agents was a multilayer comprised of eight alternating layers. The deposition onto fiber or paper had no effect on tensile strength or the pore structure of the substrate.

This paper reviews the physical and chemical characteristics of fibers from the stem, fronds, and empty fruit bunches of oil palm tree in relation to their papermaking properties. Challenges regarding the use of this nonwood material for papermaking are raised, and possible solutions to them are given. A vision for the complete utilization of oil palm biomass is also outlined.