Preparation of alpha cellulose from sugarcane bagasse and its cationization: Synthesis, characterization, validation and application as wet-end additive.

Paper industry uses cationic polymers for imparting strong bonds with pulp furnish to enhance strength properties. Due to environmental reasons, emphasis is on utilization of biobased polymers in place of synthetic. Sugarcane bagasse, an agro-industrial waste, was processed for extraction of alpha cellulose and preparation of cationic derivative. Reaction conditions were optimized to achieve highly substituted cationic derivative with insertion of 2-hydroxy-3-(trimethylammonium) propyl group. Artificial neural network (ANN) was applied to analyze the experimental data for cationization modeling. Maximum degree of substitution 0.66, was achieved at 5.0 M NaOH/anhydro glucose unit (AGU), 20 °C alkalization temperature, 8 min alkalization time, 3.5 M/AGU etherification agent concentration, 45 min time and 60 °C etherification reaction temperature. The experimental results showed that mean square error values for input parameters were significantly low. The ANN based regression values of the output, and computed values of target were close to unity. ANN based fitting indicates better performance level to predict the degree of substitution. The synthesized cationic cellulose was characterized through FTIR, XRD, NMR, FESEM and TGA. The activity of cationized cellulose as wet-end additive was tested for bagasse, wheat straw and recycled pulps due to their shorten fiber and feeble pulp characters than wood pulp.

Valorization of Wheat Straw for the Paper Industry: Pre-extraction of Reducing Sugars and Its Effect on Pulping and Papermaking Properties.

Cleaner production of sugars and pulp from renewable feedstocks has captured significant scientific attention in the recent past because they can be used for various end applications. In the papermaking industry, a major fraction of hemicellulosic sugars is lost during the pulping. The present study aims at retrieving these hemicellulosic sugars through alkali-, hot-water-, and acid-mediated extraction prior to pulping, which otherwise would have been lost during pulping and washing of pulp. These retrieved sugars can be used as feedstocks for renewable energy and value-added products. Different pretreatments were applied, aided with varying temperature, chemical concentrations, and time. Substantial amounts of total reducing sugars (TRSs) up to 21.98, 13.2, and 15.01% were extracted prior to pulping by acid, alkali, and hot-water pretreatments. Compositions of mono sugars present in the treated liquor were also characterized and confirmed by high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. The morphological changes in the wheat straw after pre-extraction were studied using the field emission gun scanning electron microscopy technique. Pulping of untreated and pretreated wheat straw was carried out at different alkali charges (12, 14, and 16% NaOH). Among all, acid-pretreated straw showed an increase in pulp yield by 10.9% at a 16% alkali charge. Physical strength properties of different pulps were further examined. Alkali- and hot-water-pretreated straw pulp retained 94.26 and 83.16% tensile indices and 92.43 and 87.02% burst indices, respectively. An increase in tear index up to 4.32, 2.01, and 2.30% for alkali-, hot-water-, and acid-pretreated straw pulp was achieved, respectively. Hot-water- and alkali-pretreated wheat straw was observed to be conducive for paper production. The integrated use of wheat straw for extraction of underutilized sugars and pulp production in this way may serve as a key stepping stone for future biorefinery designs in pulp and paper mills.

Chemical modification of waste paper: An optimization towards hydroxypropyl cellulose synthesis.

Chemical modification of waste paper offers a good prospective for environment protection through minimizing the waste density. The study develops a new opportunity for recycling of waste paper through hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) synthesis. Waste paper cellulose was hydroxypropylated by alkalization and etherification process. The hydroxypropylation reaction conditions were optimized for reactant concentrations, reaction time and temperature. Maximum DS (1.15) was achieved at 1.5 M/anhydro glucose unit (AGU) NaOH concentration, 40 °C alkalization temperature, 2.5 h alkalization time, 27.82 M/AGU propylene oxide concentration, 3.5 h reaction time for hydroxypropylation and 55 °C hydroxypropylation reaction temperature. HPC sample (DSmax. = 1.15) was examined for rheological behaviour and characterized by using FTIR spectroscopy, 1H NMR spectroscopy, XRD, HPLC and SEM techniques. This environment friendly approach explored an alternative new route for waste paper recycling and substantiated waste paper as a promising feedstock for HPC synthesis. The study further forms a real stepping stone towards resource conservation and recycling.

Synthesis and characterization of carboxymethyl cellulose from office waste paper: a greener approach towards waste management.

In the present study, functionalization of mixed office waste (MOW) paper has been carried out to synthesize carboxymethyl cellulose, a most widely used product for various applications. MOW was pulped and deinked prior to carboxymethylation. The deinked pulp yield was 80.62 ± 2.0% with 72.30 ± 1.50% deinkability factor. The deinked pulp was converted to CMC by alkalization followed by etherification using NaOH and ClCH2COONa respectively, in an alcoholic medium. Maximum degree of substitution (DS) (1.07) of prepared CMC was achieved at 50 °C with 0.094 M and 0.108 M concentrations of NaOH and ClCH2COONa respectively for 3h reaction time. The rheological characteristics of 1-3% aqueous solution of optimized CMC product showed the non-Newtonian pseudoplastic behavior. Fourier transform infra red (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) study were used to characterize the CMC product.

Carboxymethylation of Cassia angustifolia seed gum: synthesis and rheological study.

The seeds of Cassia angustifolia are a rich source of galactomannan gum. The seed gums possess a wide variety of industrial applications. To utilize C. angustifolia seed gum for broader industrial applications, the carboxymethyl-Cassia angustifolia seed gum (CM-CAG) was synthesized. The gum was etherified with sodium monochloroacetate (SMCA) in a methanol-water system in presence of alkali (NaOH) at different reaction conditions. The variables studied includes alkali concentration, SMCA concentration, methanol:water ratio, liquor:gum ratio, reaction temperature and time. The extent of carboxymethylation was determined as degree of substitution (DS). The optimum conditions for preparing CM-CAG (DS=0.474) comprised 0.100 mol of NaOH, 0.05 mol of SMCA, 80% of methanol:water ratio (as % methanol) and liquor:gum ratio (v/w) of 10:1 at 75 °C for 60 min using 0.03 mol (as AGU) of CAG. Rheological studies showed CM-CAG to exhibit non-Newtonian pseudoplastic behaviour, relatively high viscosity, cold water solubility and solution stability.