Caustic and enzymatic effects on dissolving pulp and its performance as specialty fiber

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate an effective approach for improving the dissolving pulp properties for making specialty fiber. The caustic and enzymatic treatment of the properties of dissolving pulp was conducted by analyzing the macromolecular structure and chemical composition. The results showed that the enzymatic treatment was more effective on influencing the macromolecular properties, while the caustic treatment had more influence on structural changing, mainly cellulose crystal structure and crystallinity. Meanwhile, to maintain a higher purity and higher brightness, caustic treatment would be beneficial in comparison with enzymatic treatment. The performance of caustic treated sample was evaluated in regarding to chemical composition and acetylation reaction performance, using commercial pulp as reference. The competitive feature of treated sample suggested its potential in future application.