Hydrothermal alkaline treatment of lignocellulosic biomass for microcrystalline cellulose generation at subcritical water

Like lignocellulosic biomass, wood waste sawdust is rich in cellulose and can potentially be used as a source of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) production via removal of hemicellulose and lignin constituents. Under hydrothermal alkaline treatment (100 to 140 degrees C), the breaking in the linkages of lignin and hemicellulose groups may happen, resulting in the solid residue, which is known as a cellulose-rich solid product. Results of FTIR analysis indicated that the removal of non-cellulosic constituents improved with increasing operating temperature and/or the prolonged treatment time. The XRD diffractogram pattern proved that improving the operating parameters (temperature and/or time) may also improve the crystallinity index of the solid product. On the contrary, the yield of the solid product decreases with increasing operating temperature and/or the prolonged treatment time.