As worldwide agricultural production rises, agro-industrial biomass becomes an abundant raw source for uses in energy and materials production. In Colombia fique plants (Furcraea spp.) are traditionally used to extract hard cellulosic fibers using mechanical decortication. Juice, pulp and tow, the by-products of this process, represent almost 95% of the fique leaf weight and are produced in large quantities. Data on these materials is scarce and greatly needed to guide and fuel fique agro-industrial development in Colombia. In this contribution we study the physicochemical properties of fique fibers and by-products (tow and pulp), before and after alkaline hydrogen peroxide treatment (AHP), using spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. Raw/clean fique tow is similar in structure and composition to fique fibers with average cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin contents of 52.3, 23.8 and 23.9%; in this by-product cellulose exists as a highly ordered structure with crystallinity index of 57%. Raw/clean fique pulp, composed of cellulose filaments from secondary cell walls and leaf epidermis, has average cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin contents of 30.5, 29.7 and 9.6%, with cellulose exhibiting an amorphous structure with a crystallinity index of 35%. The AHP treatment of these by-products effectively removed non-cellulosic compounds such as hemicellulose and lignin. After AHP lignin content in fique tow decreases to 2.8% while cellulose crystallinity increases up to 73%, Likewise, fique pulp shows a reduction in lignin to 2.1% and an increase in cellulose crystallinity up to 47%. IR spectroscopic analysis, after AHP, show a decrease of signals attributed to hemicellulose and lignin and FESEM images show a disruption of the lamellar structure in the macro fiber by the removal of hemicellulose, lignin and ground tissue, leaving cellulose fibrils exposed. As the first in-depth report on fique by-products characterization, our results indicate that pulp and tow are interesting lignocellulosic materials due to their significant content of crystalline and amorphous cellulose.
Año: 2018
ISSN: 09690239
Revista: Cellulose
Editorial: Springer