Arabinoxylan and Nanocellulose from a Kilogram-scale Extraction of Barley Husk
Journal article, 2019

Processes of extracting hemicellulose from annual plants usually neglect the cellulose fraction. This study explored the possibility of obtaining both a hemicellulose and a cellulose fraction of sufficient quality for further use, with barley husks used as the raw material. An alkaline extraction was used to isolate the biopolymers by a process in which sodium dithionite replaced the traditional sodium borohydride as the reducing agent. The cellulose fraction was successfully transformed into nanocellulose by sulfuric acid hydrolysis, and the obtained hemicellulose (i.e., arabinoxylan) displayed carbohydrate composition characteristics similar to those previously reported in the literature for processes of extracting hemicellulose from barley husks. Using this methodology, both the cellulose and hemicellulose can be isolated in high quantities of dry material and used for transformation into new bio-based materials.

Nanocellulose

Hemicellulose

Cellulose nanocrystals

Barley husk

Arabinoxylan

Alkali extraction

Author

Mikaela Börjesson

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

Linda Härdelin

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

Filip Nylander

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Kristina Karlsson

Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Engineering Materials

Anette Larsson

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

Gunnar Westman

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and Biochemistry

BioResources

1930-2126 (ISSN) 19302126 (eISSN)

Vol. 13 3 6201-6220

Areas of Advance

Production

Materials Science

Subject Categories

Food Engineering

Chemical Process Engineering

Polymer Technologies

DOI

10.15376/biores.13.3.6201-6220

More information

Latest update

9/28/2022