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

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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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and Department of Chemical Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    Lifeng Yan, Yi Zhao, Qing Gu & Wan Li

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  1. Lifeng Yan
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  2. Yi Zhao
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  3. Qing Gu
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  4. Wan Li
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Correspondence to Lifeng Yan.

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Yan, L., Zhao, Y., Gu, Q. et al. Isolation of highly purity cellulose from wheat straw using a modified aqueous biphasic system. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng. 6, 282–291 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-012-0901-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-012-0901-5

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