Abstract
Regenerated cellulose fibers (RCFs) are widely used biodegradable and eco-friendly materials made from woody biomass that can replace synthetic fibers. In this work, we explored the feasibility of fabricating RCFs using phosphoric acid with hydrogen peroxide (PHP)-treated wheat straw in an N, N-dimethylacetamide/lithium chloride (DMAc/LiCl) solvent system. The effects of upstream pretreatment conditions on the obtained cellulose-enriched fraction (CEF), the solubility of CEF in DMAc/LiCl, the mechanical properties of RCFs, and the interfacial interaction of residual lignin were systematically studied. CEF could be completely dissolved in DMAc/LiCl, and its wet spun RCFs had tensile strengths of 184 MPa and toughness values of 25 MJ/m3; it demonstrated remarkable wet strength (84 MPa), wet toughness (11 MJ/m3), and dyeing properties. The existence of residual lignin negatively affected the RCF mechanical properties; however, it enhanced its resistance to water infiltration. The present work provided a new approach for producing RCFs from woody biomass.
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The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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We thank the Biorefining & Photo-Bioprocessing Research Laboratory for providing the necessary reagents, instruments, and technical assistance.
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The authors are grateful to the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21978183), the Science & Technology Department of Sichuan Province (2022YFH0065, 2022YFN0027, 2021ZYD0099), the Canada First Research Excellent Fund (CFREF), and the China Scholarship Council (CSC, 201906910047) for supporting this study.
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QW: Methodology, Investigation, Writing—Original Draft, Visualization; HZ: Writing—Review & Editing, Data Curation; LZ: Formal analysis; MH: Visualization; DT: Data Curation; SD: Project administration; JH: Writing—Review & Editing, Investigation, Supervision, Funding acquisition; XZ: Supervision; FS: Conceptualization, Supervision, Funding acquisition.
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Wang, Q., Zhao, H., Zhao, L. et al. Fabrication of regenerated cellulose fibers using phosphoric acid with hydrogen peroxide treated wheat straw in a DMAc/LiCl solvent system. Cellulose 30, 6187–6201 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-023-05263-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-023-05263-z