Comparison of the chemical properties of wheat straw and beech fibers following alkaline wet oxidation and laccase treatments

Wheat straw (Triticum aestivum) and beech (Fagus sylvatica), were used to evaluate the effects of two pre-treatment processes (alkaline wet oxidation and enzyme treatment with laccase) on lignocellulosic materials for applications in particleboards and fiberboards. Wheat straw and beech fibers reacted differently in the two processes. The chemical composition changed little following enzyme treatment. After alkaline wet oxidation, fibers enriched in cellulose were obtained. With both materials, almost all hemicellulose (80%) together with a large portion of the lignin were solubilised by alkaline wet oxidation, but essentially all cellulose remained in the solid fraction. Following enzyme treatment most material remained as a solid. For wheat straw, reaction with acetic anhydride indicated that both treatments resulted in more hydroxyl groups being accessible for reaction. The enzyme treatment gave a more reactive surface than alkaline wet oxidation for wheat straw, whereas the opposite was observed for beech. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy showed an almost complete loss of the ester carbonyl stretching signal and the corresponding C-C-O stretching in wet-oxidized materials. This proved that alkaline wet oxidation breaks ester bonds in wheat straw and beech. On the other hand, FT-IR could not detect any tangible effects of the laccase treatment.