Volume 2 - No: 2
Isolation of cellulose and hemicellulose by using alkaline peroxide treatment at room temperature from wasted fall leaves
- Erdem Tezcan
Istanbul Technical University Molecular Biology-Genetics and Biotechnology Department Maslak TR34469 Istanbul, Turkey
- Oya Galioğlu Atıcı
Istanbul Technical University Chemistry Department Maslak TR34469 Istanbul, Turkey
Keywords: Waste management, fall leaves, alkaline peroxide treatment, hemicellulose recovery, delignification.
Abstract
Fall leaves are biodegraded and composted naturally in forests but they are wastes for urban areas.
Moreover, they are widely available cellulose sources but have limited applications. Alkaline
peroxide treatment of bioresources is one of the most widely studied clean methods for both
delignification and hemicellulose removal but there is no study about application of that method
on fall leaves at room temperature. In this study, the effect of alkaline peroxide treatment of fall
leaves at room temperature on hemicellulose recovery and cellulose delignification were
investigated. Fall leaves (FL) were treated with 0.3-3.0 M NaOH + 0-3 M H2O2 at room
temperature. Hemicellulose recovery and cellulose delignification values were analyzed.
Hemicellulose recovery and cellulose delignification increased and yield decreased by increasing
NaOH and H2O2 concentrations. Hemicellulose recovery and cellulose delignification reached to
the maximum levels, 99.5% and 81.6% respectively, at 3M NaOH + 3M H2O2 treatment condition.
The end products were confirmed by analytically, spectrally and morphologically. Wasted fall
leaves were turned into useful hemicellulose and cellulose products by using clean alkaline
peroxide treatment at room temperature. The products can be further processed by known methods
into other industrial products.