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This paper investigates the accelerated acidic hydrolysis of cellulose by its substituents for potential biomass conversion. Insufficient pretreatments and slow cellulose hydrolysis are major obstacles that impede efficient hydrolysis of cellulose. Substituted cellulose, such as dyed cotton, has large availability. It is susceptible to acidic hydrolysis and can be used for biomass conversion without any pretreatments. To understand the mechanism of accelerated hydrolysis of cellulose by its substituents is a prerequisite for cellulosic biomass conversion with high efficiency. Substituents with different charge properties were synthesized and their interactions with oxocarbenium ions were studied based on Density Functional Theory. Results indicate that hydrolysis rate is affected by field effect from substituents. Such field effect is dominated by amounts of negative charges on substituents and distance between negatively charged groups and oxocarbenium. Hydrolysis rate of dye-substituted cotton is higher than or comparable to that applied with other catalytic approaches., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

High-efficiency and recyclable three-dimensional bioadsorbents were prepared by incorporating cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) as reinforcements in keratin sponge matrix to remove dyes from aqueous solution. Adsorption performance of dyes by CNC-reinforced keratin bioadsorbent was improved significantly as a result of adding CNC as filler. Batch adsorption results showed that the adsorption capacities for Reactive Black 5 and Direct Red 80 by the bioadsorbent were 1201 and 1070mgg -1 , respectively. The isotherms and kinetics for adsorption of both dyes on bioadsorbent followed the Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo-second order model, respectively. Desorption and regeneration experiments showed that the removal efficiencies of the bioadsorbent for both dyes could remain above 80% at the fifth recycling cycles. Moreover, the bioadsorbent possessed excellent packed-bed column operation performance. Those results suggested that the adsorbent could be considered as a high-performance and promising candidate for dye wastewater treatment., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this work, kinetics of substitution accelerated cellulose hydrolysis with multiple reaction stages was investigated to lay foundation for mechanism study and molecular design of substituting compounds. High-efficiency hydrolysis of cellulose is critical for cellulose-based bioethanol production. It is known that, substitution could substantially decrease activation energy and increase reaction rate of acidic hydrolysis of glycosidic bonds in cellulose. However, reaction kinetics and mechanism of the accelerated hydrolysis were not fully revealed. In this research, it was proved that substitution therefore accelerated hydrolysis only occurred in amorphous regions of cellulose fibers, and was a process with multiple reaction stages. With molar ratio of substitution less than 1%, the overall hydrolysis rate could be increased for around 10 times. We also quantified the relationship between the hydrolysis rate of individual reaction stage and its major influences, including molar ratio of substitution, activation energy of acidic hydrolysis, pH and temperature., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Cellulosic fibers with high aspect ratio have been firstly obtained from cornhusks via controlled swelling in organic solvent and simultaneous tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAOH) post treatment within restricted depth. Cornhusks, with around 42% cellulose content, are a copious and inexpensive source for natural fibers. However, cornhusk fibers at 20tex obtained via small-molecule alkaline extraction were too coarse for textile applications. Continuous NaOH treatment would result in fine fibers but with length of about 0.5-1.5mm, too short for textile use. In this research, post treatment using TMAOH and under controlled swelling significantly reduced fineness of cornhusk fibers from 21.3±2.88 to 5.72±0.21tex. Fiber length was reduced from 105.47±10.03 to47.2±27.4mm. The cornhusk fibers had more oriented microstructures and cellulose content increased to 84.47%. Besides, cornhusk fibers had similar tenacity, longer elongation, and lower modulus compared to cotton and linen, which endowed them with durability and flexibility., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Abstract: In this study, biodegradable hollow zein nanoparticles with diameters less than 100 nm were developed to remove reactive dyes from simulated post-dyeing wastewater with remarkably high efficiency. Reactive dyes are widely used to color cellulosic materials, such as cotton and rayon. Wastewater from reactive dyeing process contains up to 50% dye and electrolytes with concentrations up to 100 g L−1. Current methods to remove reactive dyes from wastewater are suffering from low adsorption capacities or low biodegradability of the sorbents. In this research, biodegradable zein nanoparticles showed high adsorption capacities for dyes. Hollow zein nanoparticles showed higher adsorption for Reactive Blue 19 than solid structures, and the adsorption amount increased as temperature decreased, pH decreased or initial dye concentration increased. At pH 6.5 and pH 9.0, increasing electrolyte concentration could improve dye adsorption significantly. Under simulated post-dyeing condition with 50.0 g L−1 salt and pH 9.0, maximum adsorption of 1016.0 mg dye per gram zein nanoparticles could be obtained. The adsorption capacity was much higher than that of various biodegradable adsorbents developed to remove reactive dye. It is suggested that the hollow zein nanoparticles are good candidates to remove reactive dye immediately after dyeing process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]