A process for enhancing the accessibility and reactivity of hardwood kraft-based dissolving pulp for viscose rayon production by cellulase treatment

The commercial pre-hydrolysis kraft-based dissolving pulp production process can be a typical example for the demonstration/implementation of the integrated forest biorefinery concept. In this study, the concept of cellulase treatment of this dissolving pulp for enhancement of accessibility/reactivity in terms of viscose rayon production was demonstrated. The cellulase treatment resulted in the formation of additional openings/surface areas in the fiber structure via the possible action of “etching”. As a result, the pore volume of pulp fibers increased, which led to the increase in the accessibility to xanthation, and thus Fock reactivity. Results showed that the cellulase treatment was effective in increasing the Fock reactivity, at a cellulase dosage of 2 u/g (based on the dry weight of pulp), the Fock reactivity increased from 47.67% to 79.9%. The adoption of cellulase treatment to hardwood kraft-based dissolving pulp can provide an efficient approach for enhancing its performance in the commercial viscose-rayon process.