Comparison of fibers obtained from industrial corncob residue by two delignification methods and their application in papermaking

Abstract

Abstract In this study, two methods were used to extract fibers from industrial corncob residue. The extracted fibers were compared with different characterization methods such as Zeta potential, FAS-VII fiber analysis system, GPC and XRD. The average length and width of the fibers treated by NaOH/H2O2 were 80 µm and 10 µm. The molecular weight was 17653, and the crystallinity was 49.9 %. Correspondingly, the average length and width of fibers treated with CH3COOH/NaClO2 were 100 μm and 10 µm. The molecular weight was 18810, and the crystallinity was 61.9 %. Then, they were modified to prepare carboxymethyl cellulose, which was used to improve the physical properties of paper, the result indicated that both of the carboxymethyl cellulose had good effect. Under optimal experimental conditions, the folding endurance, tensile index, burst index of the handsheets were increased by 37.38 %, 28.78 %, and 28.8 %, respectively. SEM results showed that the addition of carboxymethyl cellulose made the fibers stick closely, which improving the paper properties.