Journal of Lignocellulose
Volume:2 Issue: 1, 2013

How does one go about choosing the name for a scientific journal? For instance, why is this journal called Lignocellulose? Why not something simpler, such as Wood? Or, alternatively, how about Biomass? Or maybe “wood-derived products” would be the most accurate descriptor for what the journal is about. Compared to these terms, the word “lignocellulose” is not nearly as well known. But the fact is that scientists are increasingly using the term “lignocellulosic” to describe the gross chemical composition of woody material. The irony is that this journal is not just for scientists; there is a lot in this journal that will be of interest to the public, as well as to practical industrial technologists. So in the end, the title Lignocelluose becomes known for the journal itself – regardless of how or whether different readers would define the term.

The cell wall components and solubility characteristics of Pinus pinea cone and wood fibers harvested from three regions in Turkey were determined. The ash content of the cones was higher than that of the wood fibers, almost similar to the ash content of softwood bark. The total extractives that were generated by successive extractions were approximately 23 to 30% of the weight of the cones. Both the cones and wood fibers contained almost equal amounts of holocellulose. However, the alpha-cellulose content was higher in the wood samples. The cones contained more acid-soluble lignin than did the wood, but after 1% NaOH-extraction, the Klason lignin content in cones was lower than that in wood. With the exception of those from the Coruh region, the chemical analysis of the cones from other regions gave almost identical results, and the values of the measured components in the wood exhibited only small differences.

The Indian handmade paper industry faces problems including the escalating cost of raw materials and an export market affected by global recession. In addition, capital costs are increasing. Good quality cellulosic raw materials are essential to the paper industry. A number of ligno-cellulosic raw materials are available including bast from leaves, weeds and wild grasses which may be used by the industry in India, but yet is not widely available to each and every part of the handmade paper industry in India. Banana (Musa sapientum) and ankara (Calotropis procera) fibres may be suitable in making handmade paper and paperboard. Chemical analysis of banana and ankara materials shows very high cellulose, low lignin and ash. By using alkaline peroxide and alkaline sulphite processing a variety of papers like archival tissue etc. can be developed. Blending them with some short-fibre pulps further make them suitable for the production of good quality handmade paper and archival board with affordable cost. These also could be converted into quality products like bond paper, card sheets and fancy and decorative items.

In this work, nanocellulose was obtained from rice husk and rice straw. Initially, the samples were subjected to different types of chemical treatment and the obtained purified cellulose fibers were separated using ultrasonication. Nanocellulose isolated by mechanical treatment has been characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Surface morphology and nanocellulose size studies using SEM and AFM revealed that there was a reduction in fiber diameter during ultrasonication. XRD results indicated that the crystallinity of nanocellulose was approximately 62% and 71% for rice straw and rice husk, respectively. The TGA curve of the isolated nanocellulose after ultrasonic treatment showed that the degradation behavior is quite similar to purified cellulose fibers, suggesting that the ultrasonic treatment had a slight effect on the thermal decomposition of the nanocellulose.

In this paper the effect of an atmospheric-pressure plasma treatment on the surface properties of sugar maple (Acer saccharum March.) and black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.)) is analyzed by contact angle measurements and water-based coating pull-off tests. The plasma gases used are Ar, N2, CO2, and air. It is found that the wettability with water and the coating adhesion of maple and spruce can be highly influenced by the nature of the plasma gas and the plasma treatment time. For example, in the case of sugar maple, coating adhesion increases by 66% after 1.5 s of exposure to argon plasma. Repetition of contact angle measurements one and two weeks after the plasma treatment further revealed that the plasma-induced modification is not permanent. Improvement of the wettability and adhesion were also obtained with the simpler and cheaper air plasmas, a very promising result for the development of advanced plasma reactors at atmospheric pressure specially designed for the wood industry.

Heat transfer is one of the most important factors in wood based composite hot pressing. Acetylation have been utilized to improve wood composites properties. Present research was conducted to investigate the effect of acetylation on heat transfer from the press plates to particleboard mat and the mechanical properties of wood based composites. After 12h soaking in acetic anhydride, particles were heated in oven at 1200C for 60 and 180 min, in order to achieve two levels of weight percentage gain, 7 and 18% respectively. During hot pressing, variation of the temperature was measured with thermocouples in the thickness of the mat. The particleboards were subjected to mechanical testing. Results of current study revealed that the acetylation significantly affected the heat transfer in core layer of the sample boards. However the surface layer was not influenced by the acetylation. The core layers reached lower temperature than the surface layers. Also, results of mechanical testing indicate that the modulus of rupture (MOR) and the modulus of elasticity (MOE) of the specimens were decreased due to the particles acetylation. Generally, Internal bonds (IB) were higher for untreated boards than acetylated boards. It was concluded that acetylation reduced the flow of water vapor through the porous structure of the higher density board, and consequently reduced the rate of heat transfer. In the case of acetylated particleboard mechanical properties, the majority of failure was due to the resin and not to the wood. There by, the acetylated chips required longer time to achieve higher temperatures.

In this research, the ability of Alkyl Ketene Dimer (AKD) in sizing of recycled Old Corrugated Container (OCC) pulp in alkaline and neutral conditions was investigated. The results indicated that AKD could be a good and completely successful choice for obtaining sized liner made of recycled OCC pulp. In this study, 0.25, 0.5, 1% AKD (based on oven dry pulp) were considered. All treatments were successful in sizing but none of them showed considerable difference in Cobb-60 as a sizing indicator. Increasing the AKD consumption reduced tensile, burst and tear indices. Therefore, low addition levels yielded the best results in both neutral and alkaline pH. The pH of fiber suspension had no obvious effect on sizing under alkaline and neutral conditions, but all mechanical properties showed better results at alkaline pH compared to neutral pH. The contact angle test was used in selected optimum treatments from all aspects (0.25% AKD in alkaline condition), and the results were consistent with the other size test findings.