Enzymatic Fibre Modification During Production of Dissolving Wood Pulp for Regenerated Cellulosic Materials

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The production of regenerated cellulosic fibres, such as viscose, modal and lyocell, is based mainly on the use of dissolving wood pulp as raw material. Enzymatic processes are an excellent alternative to conventional chemical routes in the production of dissolving pulp, in terms of energy efficiency, reagent consumption and pulp yield. The two main characteristics of a dissolving pulp are the cellulose purity and the molecular weight, both of which can be controlled with the aid of enzymes. A purification process for paper-grade kraft pulp has been proposed, based on the use of xylanases in combination with hot and cold caustic extraction, without the conventional pre-hydrolysis step before kraft pulping. This enzyme aided purification allowed the production of a dissolving pulp that met the specifications for the manufacture of viscose, < 3% xylan, > 92% ISO brightness and 70% Fock’s reactivity. Endoglucanases (EGs) can efficiently reduce the average molecular weight of the cellulose while simultaneously increasing the pulp reactivity for viscose production. It is shown in this study that lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases act synergistically with EGs in the modification of bleached dissolving pulp.

Original languageEnglish
Article number717776
JournalFrontiers in Plant Science
Volume12
Number of pages9
ISSN1664-462X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Sep 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to dedicate this work to the memory of Henrik Lund, Novozymes A/S.

Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2021 Loureiro, Cadete, Tokin, Evtuguin, Lund and Johansen.

    Research areas

  • Biotechnology, dissolving pulp, enzymes, Lignocellulose, viscose

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