Influence on the Physical Properties of Wheat Straw via Hydrothermal and Chemical Treatments

• Main Authors: Xingxing Yang, Chunxia He, Junjun Liu, Hanmei Diao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: North Carolina State University 2016-07-01
• Series: BioResources
• Subjects: Physical properties; Wheat straw; Hydrothermal and chemical treatments; FT-IR
• Online Access: http://ojs.cnr.ncsu.edu/index.php/BioRes/article/view/BioRes_11_3_7345_Yang_Wheat_Straw_Hydrothermal_Chemical_Treatment

The physical properties of wheat straw treated with hydrothermal and chemical treatments were investigated using an electronic universal testing machine, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The thermal stability of the wheat straw was also investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The experimental results showed that the chemical treatment was a main factor governing the enzymatic saccharification of wheat straw. Different treatments of wheat straw had the same mass loss trend. The maximum mass loss occurred in the range between 250 and 400 °C for all straw samples. In this range, the wheat straw treated with NaOH showed an exothermic peak, while samples treated with the other treatments showed an endothermic peak. Chemical treatments disrupted the silicified waxy surface and destroyed the C-O bond. The internal structure of wheat straw treated with NaOH became porous and loose and exposed more accessible surface area of the cellulose to cellulase.