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In this work, steam explosion (SE) was exploited as a potential hydrothermal-humification process of vegetable wastes to deconstruct their structure and accelerate their decomposition to prepare humified substances. Results indicated that the SE process led to the removal of hemicellulose, re-condensation of lignin, degradation of the cellulosic amorphous region, and the enhancement of thermal stability of broccoli wastes, which provided transformable substrates and a thermal-acidic reaction environment for humification. After SE treatment, total humic substances (HS), humic acids (HA s ), and fulvic acids (FA s ) contents of broccoli samples accounted for up to 198.3 g/kg, 42.3 g/kg, and 166.6 g/kg, and their purification were also facilitated. With the increment of SE severity, structural characteristics of HA s presented the loss of aliphatic compounds, carbohydrates, and carboxylic acids and the enrichment of aromatic structures and N-containing groups. Lignin substructures were proved to be the predominant aromatic structures and gluconoxylans were the main carbohydrates associated with lignin in HA s , both of their signals were enhanced by SE. Above results suggested that SE could promote the decomposition of easily biodegradable matters and further polycondensation, aromatization, and nitrogen-fixation reactions during humification, which were conducive to the formation of HA s .

Cellulosic fiber introducing with photochromic properties can be used in many fields such as security packaging, printing paper, and rewritable paper. To introduce photochromic property to individual fiber, a polyelectrolyte composite layer composed of cationic chitosan (CS) and anionic carboxyl-containing spiropyran (SPCOOH) on pulp fibers was designed using layer-by-layer assembly technique. Scanning electron microscope observation showed that the SPCOOH was successfully absorbed onto the surface of fiber. The photochromic characteristic of LbL-treated fiber could be triggered by UV-vis absorption spectrum and the LbL-treated fibers had a good compatibility with pulp fibers. This study gives a highly effective method to impart the photochromic characteristic to paper., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)