Effects of Hemicellulose on Recycling Performance of Paper Based on Sisal Fibers

The pulp and paper industry growingly paid attention to the recycling and maintenance of waste paper products. Each paper-making cycle would lead to a sharp drop in the mechanical properties of the cellulosic paper, which was related to the hornification effect. Here, the recycling performance of the holocellulose paper was studied, compared with that of the cellulosic paper. Holocellulose fibers from sisal were fabricated by a gentle delignification method, and the well-preserved cellulose and hemicellulose components hindered the cocrystallization and aggregation of cellulose fibril. Holocellulose paper exhibited much more favorable recycling properties, compared with cellulosic paper. After 5 runs of recycling, holocellulose paper still shown an ultimate strength as high as 25 MPa (reduced from 35 MPa), a decrease of 27.1 %. However, cellulosic paper experienced a substantial loss in ultimate strength from 35 MPa to 9 MPa, a decrease of about 74 %. This can be attributed to the core-shell structure from cellulose and hemicellulose to weaken the hornification effect.