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Characterization of natural cellulose fiber from corn stalk waste subjected to different surface treatments

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Abstract

Crop stalk is a valuable source of cellulosic biomass and has attracted increasing attention as one kind of renewable resource. Cellulose fibers have potential as a reinforcement material to replace synthetic fibers used in biopolymer composites. This study addresses the modification and characterization of corn stem fibers extracted from corn stalk waste. The corn stem fibers were treated with alkali, silane and NaOH-silane solutions, and then, the chemical properties, surface morphology, mechanical behaviors and thermal stability of the corn stem fibers were characterized. The surface treatments improved the chemical and mechanical properties of the corn stem fibers. The fibers had rougher surfaces after the surface treatments. EDX and FTIR analysis confirmed that the surface treatments removed a certain amount of hemicelluloses, lignin and pectin from the natural fiber surface. XRD analysis results showed that the surface treatments had a positive impact on the crystallinity index of the natural fibers. The mechanical properties and thermal stability of the treated corn stem fibers were also found to be improved.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51875242 and 51505259), by the China-EU H2020 FabSurfWAR project (Grant Nos. 2016YFE0112100 and 644971), by Natural Science Foundation of Jilin Province of China (Grant No. 20190302129GX), by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2016M601383), by Jilin Province Science and Technology Development Plan Item (Grant Nos. 20170101173JC and 20170204015NY), by the 111 project (Grant No. B16020), by Jilin Province Development and Reform Commission Plan Item (Grant No. 2018C044-3).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering (Ministry of Education PR China), Jilin University, Nanling Campus, Changchun, 130022, People’s Republic of China

    Yucheng Liu, Yunhai Ma & Jin Tong

  2. Editorial Department of Journal of Bionic Engineering, Jilin University, Nanling Campus, Changchun, 130022, People’s Republic of China

    Yucheng Liu

  3. Air Combat Service Academy, Air Force Aviation University, Changchun, 130021, People’s Republic of China

    Jun Xie

  4. Collage of Automotive Engineering, Shandong Jiaotong University, Jinan, 250023, People’s Republic of China

    Na Wu

  5. School of Engineering Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, V5A 1S6, BC, Canada

    Carlo Menon

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  1. Yucheng Liu
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  2. Jun Xie
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  4. Yunhai Ma
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Correspondence to Yunhai Ma.

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Liu, Y., Xie, J., Wu, N. et al. Characterization of natural cellulose fiber from corn stalk waste subjected to different surface treatments. Cellulose 26, 4707–4719 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-019-02429-6

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