I have focused on typical examples of excess biomass (corn stover, corn stems and peeld cobs as well as wheat straw). Firstly, I characterized this biomass and determined the content of cellulose, lignin, hemicellulose, extractives and ash. Due to the relatively high portions of cellulose, which was between 35% and 44%, the materials were delignified by alkaline procedure using NaOH. I have determined mechanical, morphological and other properties of isolated cellulose fibers. I also performed the optimization of delignification process and studied how the time of delignification and content of NaOH in solution affect mechanical, morphological and other properties of fibers. Further I studied the conversion of isolated cellulose fibers into the carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) through Williamson ether synthesis in various solvents and under different conditions. I compared results with commercial bleached and unbleached cellulose fibers. Isolated cellulose fibers and modified products were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy as well as optical and scanning electron (SEM) microscopy.
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