High-strength lignocellulosic material from agro-waste

• Published in: Industrial crops and products 2024-11, Vol.220, p.119204, Article 119204
• Main Authors: Yang, Weikai, Zhang, Xinyuan, Lin, Kairui, Chen, Yuwen, Cheng, Binbin, Pan, Pengyu, Niu, Shengyue, Huang, Liulian, Li, Jianguo, Chen, Lihui
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agro-waste; Hemicellulose migration; Lignocellulosic material; Mechanical strength
• ISSN: 0926-6690
• DOI: 10.1016/j.indcrop.2024.119204

As agro-waste, non-wood lignocellulosic fibers (e.g., wheat straw) show the advantages of large yield and low cost, which have great application potential toward versatile lignocellulose production and application. To date, the undesirable mechanical strength of agro-waste lignocellulose remains challenging its promising application. Herein, a high-strength lignocellulosic fibers (TONFs) of agro-waste by regulating its chemical distinctions (component content and distribution, and functional groups) were developed, more specifically, introducing carboxyl groups, removing lignin and migrating hemicellulose from the inner structure to the surface of lignocellulosic fibers, which endows our lignocellulosic fibers with improved bonding strength. Based on XPS, CLSM, SEM, and HPLC characterization, the resultant TONFs shows lowered lignin content (Kappa number from 100.89 to 9.44), increased carboxyl groups (from 0.044 mmol/g to 0.267 mmol/g), improved fiber width (from 20.5 μm to 22.8 μm) and curl index (from 7.5 % to 10.1 %), as well as more carbohydrate component on its surface. As a result, the TONFs demonstrate excellent mechanical strength, such as tearing index from 3.88 mN·m2/g to 4.63 mN·m2/g, tensile index from 18.72 N·m/g to 33.28 N·m/g, bursting index from 1.71 kPa·m2/g to 3.04 kPa·m2/g, and folding strength from 3 times to 58 times. The designed strategy opens a promising direction to construct high-strength lignocellulose toward advanced sustainable materials, beyond agro-waste. [Display omitted] •TEMPO treatment introduces carboxyl groups and remove lignin of lignocellulosic fibers.•NaOH treatment enable migrate hemicellulose from inner structure to surface of lignocellulosic fibers.•Resultant TONFs shows high fiber bonding strength and fiber itself strength.•TONFs demonstrates excellent mechanical strength.