Processes of wood delignification and cellulose mercerization under conditions of shear deformations

Abstract

Abstract The development of high‐yielding and environmentally safe procedures of processing wood and cellulose constitutes a topical problem at present. To facilitate delignification of wood and mercerization of cellulose, a method was proposed, its principle of action based on the use of shear deformations combined with pressure. It is shown that under the conditions of plastic flow the fibrous high‐yield semifinished product produced from birch wood features, due to its specific structure, shows better physicomechanical properties. It is established that under the conditions of high pressure and shear deformations, when cellulose interacts with hard alkali, alkaline cellulose is produced, which is proved by X‐ray analysis data. The depth of wood delignification and cellulose mercerization processes under the conditions of plastic flow does not depend on temperature, i.e., these processes are inactive.