Acetosolv treatment of fibers from waste agave leaves: Influence of process variables and microstructural study

The Acetosolv process is an organosolv treatment that has been used to separate cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin from lignocellulosic material by taking advantage of the higher affinity for the lignin oligomers to dissolve in organic solvents. However, the process conditions depend on the material used, thus the influence of process variables (time process, acetic acid concentration and hydrochloric acid concentration) on the Acetosolv delignification of agave leaves to obtain cellulose was evaluated. Using a face-centered factorial design, it was possible to obtain high quality pulp by the Acetosolv pulping process with the following results: pulp yield 24.5%; 8.2 kappa number and a pulp viscosity of 571 mL/g. The low kappa number values obtained indicate a high degree of whiteness and a low content of lignin cellulose; this has been confirmed by confocal and scanning electron microscopy while Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses indicate that the type of cellulose remaining in pulp is cellulose I. Paper with a similar or higher quality than commercial Bond paper in terms of whiteness could was obtained from Acetosolv pulp. A comprehensive and quantitative view of the phenomena occurring in the delignification of agave fibers using different characterization techniques is demonstrated.