Supplementary information files for " Valorising wood ash as an effective green alternative pulping agent for achieving a high yield of banana micro-lignocellulose fibres of enhanced crystallinity"

Supplementary information files for article " Valorising wood ash as an effective green alternative pulping agent for achieving a high yield of banana micro-lignocellulose fibres of enhanced crystallinity"This study aims to explore the use of wood ash, a common waste, as an alternative and eco-friendly pulping agent. The first and most important singularity of the study is that wood ash solution, though mild in nature, has proven to be an effective pulping agent (in comparison with the common pulping solution, sodium hydroxide): comparable lignin (45%) and hemicellulose (50%) removal, high crystallinity (72–77%) and high pulp yield (70%) were obtained. Another particularity of this study is that the reported advanced aspects of pulped banana fibres, notably the chemical functionality, crystallinity and crystallite size have been correlated with the chemical composition of the wood ash used: calcium pectinate was formed on the pulped fibre surface. It apparently played a role in enhancing the fibre crystallinity. Moreover, another specialness of this study is that non-conventional factors, which would have significant bearing during industrial scale processing, such as liquor ratio, fibre input size and duration have been investigated—the latter has shown that to attain maximum delignification, small fibre input size at a high liquor ratio of 40 for an extended period of 2 h are necessary. Finally, the pulped banana fibres (which were intended to be used for membrane fabrication for use in water purification system) have depicted their applicability in the fabrication of ultrafiltration membranes by virtue of their aspect ratio, semi-hydrophilicity (due to presence of residual lignin) and projected high mechanical strength (due to high crystallinity and low crystallite size). Graphical Abstract: Graphical abstract showing outcomes when pulping with wood ash solution.© The Authors, CC BY4.0

补充信息文件对应文章《木灰的资源化利用：作为高效绿色替代制浆剂（pulping agent）以获得高得率且结晶度（crystallinity）增强的香蕉微木质纤维素纤维（micro-lignocellulose fibres）》。本研究旨在探索木灰（一种常见废弃物）作为替代型环保制浆剂的应用。该研究首要且最重要的独特之处在于，尽管木灰溶液性质温和，但已被证明是一种有效的制浆剂（与常用制浆溶液氢氧化钠相比）：实现了相当的木质素（lignin）（45%）和半纤维素（hemicellulose）（50%）去除率、高结晶度（72–77%）及高纸浆得率（pulp yield）（70%）。本研究的另一特点是，所报道的制浆后香蕉纤维的高级特性（尤其是化学功能性、结晶度和微晶尺寸（crystallite size））与所用木灰的化学组成相关：制浆纤维表面形成了果胶酸钙（calcium pectinate），这显然对增强纤维结晶度起到了作用。此外，本研究的另一特点在于，考察了对工业规模加工具有重要影响的非常规因素，如液比（liquor ratio）、纤维输入尺寸和处理时间——研究表明，为实现最大程度的脱木质素（delignification），需采用小纤维输入尺寸、40的高液比及2小时的延长处理时间。最后，制浆后的香蕉纤维（拟用于水净化系统的膜制备）凭借其长径比（aspect ratio）、半亲水性（semi-hydrophilicity）（因残留木质素存在）及预期的高机械强度（因高结晶度和低微晶尺寸），展现出在超滤膜（ultrafiltration membranes）制备中的适用性。图形摘要：展示木灰溶液制浆效果的图形摘要。© 作者，CC BY4.0