Effect of High-Temperature Hydrothermal Treatment on the Cellulose Derived from the Buxus Plant

Abstract

Cellulose has attracted considerable attention as the most promising potential candidate raw material for the production of bio-based polymeric materials. In the last decade, significant progress has been made in the production of biopolymers based on different cellulose forms. In this study, cellulose was obtained in an innovative and environmentally friendly way, using boxwood powder. Crude cellulose was obtained by treating Buxus powder with an ethanol–acetic acid–water mixture. Refined cellulose was then obtained by treatment with an acidic sodium hypochlorite solution and alkaline hydrogen peroxide solution. The novel chemistry of cellulose prepared by this method promises to be not only green, but also highly desirable, because of its lower emissions and low cost. It is crucial for the future of the global polymer industry. The refined cellulose was subjected to a high-temperature hydrothermal treatment under two temperatures and time conditions, with temperature gradients of 120, 140, and 160 °C, and time gradients of 1, 2, and 3 h. The samples were subjected to infrared and thermogravimetric analyses. The cellulose undergoes dehydration and thermal degradation reactions during the heat treatment process, and the thermal stability of the residual is enhanced, compared with that of virgin cellulose. Between 120 and 140 °C, the hydroxyl and hypomethyl groups on the surface of cellulose are shed. Groups in the amorphous region of the polymer are the first to be shed. The dehydration reaction reduces the number of free hydroxyl groups on the surface of the cellulose molecules. The dehydration reaction was accelerated by an increase in temperature. Between 140 and 160 °C, the β-(1,4)-glycosidic bond begins to slowly break and some furans are generated. The structure of cellulose undergoes reorganization during thermal treatment. The thermal stability of the modified material is greater than that of untreated cellulose.

Engineering Bacterial Biomanufacturing: Characterization and Manipulation ofSphingomonas sp.LM7 Extracellular Polymers

“…Sphingans have also been selected for many applications because of their thermal stability due to their ability to covalently cross-link, high M W , and stable glycosidic bonds. 34–36 Both TGA and DSC were conducted to establish the thermal properties of this novel material and to enable comparison to fellow sphingans. The results of TGA show that weight loss occurs in two stages.…”

Cellulose Dissolution, Modification, and the Derived Hydrogel: A Review

“…When the pyrolysis conditions were reached, cellulose would be pyrolyzed into cellulose triglycan, bioglycan, and levoglucose glycan [92] . As shown in Table 1, the cellulose generally showed an increase in the degree of crystallinity [74–78] and a decrease in the degree of polymerization [74–76] . This change contributed to obtaining a cellulose solution in mild mediums and preparing cellulose‐based hydrogel with better mechanical properties.…”

Kinetic Modeling of Cornstalk Cellulose Hydrolysis in Supercritical Water: A Comparative Study of the Effects of Temperature and Residence Time on Derivative Production

“…It is noted that, in the experimental process of cellulose hydrolysis, cellulose reaches the maximum temperature at the reactor inlet where the supercritical water is mixed with the cellulose. Thus, the dehydration reaction can be accelerated with the enhancement of the thermal properties [26]. In this study, the cellulose mass concentration at the reactor inlet is selected as the same as that reported in a recent experimental study [27].…”

“…The computational results are compared with those in the literature [23]. Though quite a few experimental studies have been reported in the literature for cellulose hydrolysis [6,26,27], detailed kinetic modeling of the hydrolysis process is still lacking. The present study can contribute to the rational understanding of cellulose hydrolysis for better, controllable production of cellulose-derived biofuels and other value-added chemicals, especially, beneficial to predict the yield of cellulose derivatives, e.g., glucose, fructose, 5-HMF, glyceraldehyde, erythrose, glycolaldehyde, aldose, threose, and others.…”