Pulp Properties and Their
Influence on Enzymatic Degradability
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Abstract
Endoglucanase treatment of pulp for the adjustment of
viscosity
and the increase in pulp reactivity is a promising step in the concept
for the beneficial
production of dissolving pulps from paper grade pulps. To promote
the commercial applicability of these enzymes, the influence of pulp
properties such as carbohydrate composition, pulp type and cellulose
morphology on the enzymatic degradability of a pulp was examined.
High contents of hemicelluloses and lignin were shown to impair the
accessibility of the cellulose to the enzymes. Due to the elevated
swelling capacity of cellulose II, conversion of the cellulose morphology
from I to II upon alkaline treatments showed a large increasing effect
on the cellulose accessibility, and enzymatic degradability. Reactivity
measurements of softwood sulfite pulps after enzymatic degradation
and acid-catalyzed hydrolysis, respectively, revealed elevated reactivity
for the pulp after acid treatment. This is in contrast to effects
of enzyme treatments reported for CCE treated kraft pulps