Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Applied Sciences: Research Areas

Article Title: Conversion of Post-Consumer (Or Waste) Printers' Paper Grades Into Microcrystalline Cellulose Powder
by Uyigue, L. and Okwonna, O.O.

Abstract:
The need to reduce the amount of waste generated from paper to paper recycling operations and the desire to secure an alternative to the existing raw material sources for microcrystalline cellulose production has led to this study. In it, three waste printer,s paper grades: book, ground-wood/newsprint and paperboard were shredded, cut and milled into particulate fines (150 to 900 um). Pulped &cellulose was obtained from the batch-wise digestion of these waste papers in de-inking and pulping processes which operated at 80 oC and 1 atm. The recovered pulped &cellulose were further subjected to regeneration, hydrolysis/de-polymerization, drying and milling processes in order to obtain 10.2 to 80.5 % yields of microcrystalline cellulose powder (MCCP) samples (with dp less than 250 ?m). However, the book paper grade produced the maximum yield &cellulose of 80.5 %. The physico-chemical property analysis of the MCCP samples showed: porosity (76 to 80 %); moisture sorption capacity (3.5 to 13.5 %); loss on drying (4.5 to 6.0 %); crystallinity index (71 to 78 %) and degree of polymerization (186 to 207). The FT-IR analysis of the MCCP samples showed strong presence of the following chemical bonds: O-H stretch, C-H (alkane) stretch, C-O (ester) stretch, C-O-C (ester) stretch and C-H (alkane) bend. These results corroborated strongly with commercial MCCP products such as Avicel, Alfacel 200 and Alfacel 302.

Keywords: waste printer's paper, pulping medium, microcrystalline cellulose powder.

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