Isolation of highly purity cellulose from wheat straw using a modified aqueous biphasic system

Abstract

Cellulose samples with molecular weights ranging from 8.39 × 10⁴ to 11.00 × 10⁴ g/mol were obtained from wheat straw. The dewaxed wheat straw was pretreated with aqueous hydrochloric acid followed by delignification using an environmentally benign poly(ethyleneglycol)/salt aqueous biphasic system. The yield of cellulose was in the range of 48.9%–55.5% and the cellulose contained 1.2%–3.2% hemicelluloses, and 0.97%–3.47% lignin. All the isolated cellulose samples could be directly dissolved in a 6 wt-% NaOH/4 wt-% urea aqueous solution through a precooling-thawing process to form a homogenous solution. The separation process was investigated and the obtained cellulose and its solution were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray apparatus, and X-ray diffraction. The results revealed that aqueous soluble cellulose can be directly prepared from wheat straw by this method and this study opens a novel pathway to prepare cellulosic materials from agricultural waste.

Key words： cellulose; straw; separation; aqueous solution

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51073147) and the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant Nos. 2010CB923302 and 2011CB921403).

References

1 Huber G W, Corma A. Synergies between bio- and oil refineries for the production of fuels from biomass. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2007, 46(38): 7184-7201

PMID

2 Chheda J N, Huber G W, Dumesic J A. Liquid-phase catalytic processing of biomass-derived oxygenated hydrocarbons to fuels and chemicals. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2007, 46(38): 7164-7183

PMID

3 Corma A, Iborra S, Velty A. Chemical routes for the transformation of biomass into chemicals. Chemical Reviews, 2007, 107(6): 2411-2502

PMID

4 Metzger J O. Production of liquid hydrocarbons from biomass. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2006, 45(5): 696-698

PMID

5 Ragauskas A J, Williams C K, Davison B H, Britovsek G, Cairney J, Eckert C A, Frederick W J Jr, Hallett J P, Leak D J, Liotta C L, Mielenz J R, Murphy R, Templer R, Tschaplinski T. The path forward for biofuels and biomaterials. Science, 2006, 311(5760): 484-489

PMID

6 Goodger E M. Hydrocarbon fuels: production, properties and performance of liquids and gases. London: Macmillan, 1976, 4-16

7 Nishio Y. Material functionalization of cellulose and related polysaccharides via diverse microcompositions. Advances in Polymer Science, 2006, 205(9): 97-151

8 Heinze T, Liebert T, Heublein B, Hornig S. Functional polymers based on dextran. Advances in Polymer Science, 2006, 205(9): 199-291

9 Klemm D, Schumann D, Kramer F, Heßler N, Hornung M, Schmauder H P, Marsch S. Nanocelluloses as innovative polymers in research and application. Advances in Polymer Science, 2006, 205(9): 49-96

10 Schaible D, Sherwood B. Treatment of pulp to produce microcrystalline cellulose. US<patent>20050145351A1</patent>, 2005

11 Zhang Y, Lu X, Pizzi A, Delmotte L. Wheat straw particleboard bonding improvements by enzyme pretreatment. European Journal of Wood and Wood Products, 2003, 61(1): 49-54

12 Avella M, Martuscelli E, Pascucci B, Raimo M, Focher B, Marzetti A. A new class of biodegradable materials—poly-3-hydroxy-butyrate steam exploded straw fiber composites. 1. Thermal and impact behavior. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 1993, 49(12): 2091-2103

13 Hornsby P R, Hinrichsen E, Tarverdi K. Preparation and properties of polypropylene composites reinforced with wheat and flax straw fibres. 1. Fibre characterization. Journal of Materials Science, 1997, 32(2): 443-449

14 Chen J, Spear S K, Huddleston J G, Rogers R D. Polyethylene glycol and solutions of polyethylene glycol as green reaction media. Green Chemistry, 2005, 7(2): 64-82

15 Reddy N, Yang Y. Biofibers from agricultural byproducts for industrial applications. Trends in Biotechnology, 2005, 23(1): 22-27

PMID

16 Diaz M J, Eugenio M E, Lopez F, Alaejos J. Paper from olive tree residues. Industrial Crops and Products, 2005, 21(2): 211-221

17 Yan L F, Li W, Yang J L, Zhu Q S. Direct visualization of straw cell walls by AFM. Macromolecular Bioscience, 2004, 4(2): 112-118

PMID

18 Chakar F S, Ragauskas A J. Review of current and future softwood kraft lignin process chemistry. Industrial Crops and Products, 2004, 20(2): 131-141

19 Smook G A, ed. Handbook for Pulp & Paper Technologists. 2nd ed. Vancouver: Angus Wilde Publications, 1992, 22-58

20 Vincent J F V. From cellulose to cell. Journal of Experimental Biology, 1999, 202(Pt 23): 3263-3268

PMID

21 Sun R C, Fang J M, Tomkinson J, Geng Z C, Liu J C. Fractional isolation, physico-chemical characterization and homogeneous esterification of hemicelluloses from fast-growing poplar wood. Carbohydrate Polymers, 2001, 44(1): 29-39

22 Herrera A, Tellez-Luis S J, Gonzalez-Cabriales J J, Ramirez J A, Vazquez M. Effect of the hydrochloric acid concentration on the hydrolysis of sorghum straw at atmospheric pressure. Journal of Food Engineering, 2004, 63(1): 103-109

23 Sepulveda-Huerta E, Tellez-Luis S J, Bocanegra-Garcia V, Ramirez J A, Vazquez M. Production of detoxified sorghum straw hydrolysates for fermentative purposes. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 2006, 86(15): 2579-2586

24 Aguilar R, Ramirez J A, Garrote G, Vazquez M. Kinetic study of the acid hydrolysis of sugar cane bagasse. Journal of Food Engineering, 2002, 55(4): 309-318

25 Tellez-Luis S J, Uresti R M, Ramirez J A, Vazquez M. Low-salt restructured fish products using microbial transglutaminase as binding agent. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 2002, 82(9): 953-959

26 Herrera A, Tellez-Luis S J, Ramirez J A, Vazquez M. Production of xylose from sorghum straw using hydrochloric acid. Journal of Cereal Science, 2003, 37(3): 267-274

27 Gámez S, Gonzalez-Cabriales J J, Ramirez J A, Garrote G, Vazquez M. Study of the hydrolysis of sugar cane bagasse using phosphoric acid. Journal of Food Engineering, 2006, 74(1): 78-88

28 Ruan D, Zhang L N, Lue A, Zhou J P, Chen H, Chen X M, Chu B, Kondo T. A rapid process for producing cellulose multi-filament fibers from a NaOH/thiourea solvent system. Macromolecular Rapid Communications, 2006, 27(17): 1495-1500

29 Pye E K, Lora J H. The alcell process—a proven alternative to Kraft pulping. Tappi Journal, 1991, 74(3): 113-118

30 Green R P, Hough G, eds. Chemical Recovery in the Alkaline Pulping Processes Revised Edition. Atlanta: Tappi Press, 1992, 1-35

31 Paszner L, Cho H J. Organosolv pulping—acidic catalysis options and their effect on fiber quality and delignification. Tappi Journal, 1989, 72(2): 135-142

32 Mcdonough T J. The chemistry of organosolv delignification. Tappi Journal, 1993, 76(8): 186-193

33 Guo Z, Li M, Willauer H D, Huddleston J G, April G C, Rogers R D. Evaluation of polymer-based aqueous biphasic systems as improvement for the hardwood alkaline pulping process. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 2002, 41(10): 2535-2542

34 Zhang L N, Ruan D, Gao S J. Dissolution and regeneration of cellulose in NaOH/thiourea aqueous solution. J Polym Sci Pol Phys, 2002, 40(14): 1521-1529

35 Cai J, Zhang L. Rapid dissolution of cellulose in LiOH/urea and NaOH/urea aqueous solutions. Macromolecular Bioscience, 2005, 5(6): 539-548

PMID

36 Chai X S, Zhu J Y. Method for rapidly determining a pulp kappa number using spectrophotometry. US<patent>6475339B1</patent>, 2002

37 Togrul H, Arslan N. Flow properties of sugar beet pulp cellulose and intrinsic viscosity-molecular weight relationship. Carbohydrate Polymers, 2003, 54(1): 63-71

38 Johnston H K, Sourirajan S. Viscosity-temperature relationships for cellulose acetate-acetone solutions. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 1973, 17(12): 3717-3726

39 Zhou J P, Zhang L, Deng Q H, Wu X J. Synthesis and characterization of cellulose derivatives prepared in NaOH/urea aqueous solutions. Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry, 2004, 42(23): 5911-5920

40 Roberts K. Structures at the plant cell surface. Current Opinion in Cell Biology, 1990, 2(5): 920-928

PMID

41 Ristolainen M, Alen R, Malkavaara P, Pere J. Reflectance FTIR microspectroscopy for studying effect of xylan removal on unbleached and bleached birch Kraft pulps. Holzforschung, 2002, 56(5): 513-521

42 Xiao B, Sun X F, Sun R C. Chemical, structural, and thermal characterizations of alkali-soluble lignins and hemicelluloses, and cellulose from maize stems, rye straw, and rice straw. Polymer Degradation & Stability, 2001, 74(2): 307-319

43 Sun R, Sun X F, Liu G Q, Fowler P, Tomkinson J. Structural and physicochemical characterization of hemicelluloses isolated by alkaline peroxide from barley straw. Polymer International, 2002, 51(2): 117-124

44 Sun X F, Sun R C, Su Y Q, Sun J X. Comparative study of crude and purified cellulose from wheat straw. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2004, 52(4): 839-847

PMID

45 Kaplan D L, ed. Biopolymers from Renewable Resources. 1st ed. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 1998, 3-27