NaOH/Urea Swelling Treatment and Hydrothermal Degradation of Waste Cotton Fiber

In this study,waste cotton fabric was used as cellulose raw material and pretreated in aqueous NaOH/urea solution system to investigate the effect of NaOH/urea pretreatment solution on the hydrolysis of cotton fiber.The cotton fiber was pretreated with different conditions of aqueous NaOH/urea solution,and the pretreated cotton fiber was hydrolyzed under the same conditions as the original cotton fiber.The results of characterization analysis showed that water retention value of pretreated cotton fiber was higher than that of unpretreated sample.Moreover,the cotton fiber presented both a convoluted structure and a coarser surface,XRD results suggested that the crystallinity degree of cellulose decreased dramatically,more cellulose II appeared,and the hydrogen bond is broken.Among the different pretreatment conditions,the pretreatment effect was the best when the reaction temperature was 0°C,the solid-liquid ratio was 2:50,and the NaOH/urea ratio was 7:12.The hydrolysis experiments of pretreated and unpretreated cotton fibers showed that when the hydrothermal temperature was 230°C,the heat preservation was 2 h,and the hydrochloric acid concentration was 5 wt.%,the glucose yield reached 29.99%.H+could catalyze the hydrolysis of cotton fiber more effectively due to damage to crystal structure and hydrogen bonds.

Preparation and Characterization of Carbon Microspheres From Waste Cotton Textiles By Hydrothermal Carbonization

Carbon microspheres were prepared from waste cotton fibers by hydrothermal carbonization(HTC)with the addition of copper sulphate in this work.The important influence factors,temperature,concentration of copper sulphate,resident time were explored here.The smooth and regular carbon microspheres could be formed at 330°C with 0.15 wt%copper sulphate after 6 h from waste cotton fibers.The crystal structures of cotton fibers were destructed in a short resident time with 0.15 wt%copper sulphate from SEM images and XRD patterns of solid products.This strategy provides a new,mild and efficient method to prepare carbon microspheres from waste cotton fibers by HTC.FTIR spectra verified that the abundant functional groups existed on the surface of synthesized carbon microspheres.From XPS and element analysis results,the copper sulphate participated in the forming process of carbon microspheres indeed.The presence of copper sulphate in the carbon microspheres provided a possibility for the application in antibacterial field.Besides,the catalytic mechanism of copper sulphate on the hydrolysis and carbonization of waste cotton fibers were also discussed.In conclusion,the copper sulphate is an efficient agent for preparing carbon microspheres by HTC from waste cotton fibers.