Effects of Pretreatment on Papyrus Using Two-stage of Hydrothermal and Chemical Pretreatment Using Sodium Hydroxide

Abstract

Papyrus is a lignocellulose plant with high cellulose content, requiring proper pretreatment. It has a high productivity rate and is easy to grow, which is suitable for producing cellulose fibers to absorb contaminants in wastewater. This research aimed to study papyrus' chemical composition and morphology before and after two-stage pretreatment. The pretreatment was carried out in the first step by a hydrothermal process at 220 °C for 15 minutes and then by pretreatment with 5% sodium hydroxide solution at 120°C. The pretreatment time was varied at 30, 45, and 60 minutes. The results showed that the papyrus before pretreatment contained cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin contents of 48.88, 11.1, and 7.69%, respectively. It causes morphological changes with a fractured surface and no adhesion. This demonstrates that the lignin structure that binds cellulose is destroyed. The chemical composition after pretreatment contained the highest cellulose content at 60 min. It gave the best cellulose content, equal to 89.23%, and removed the highest hemicellulose and lignin content.