Reactivity Improvement of Bamboo Dissolving Pulp by Xylanase Modification

A high reactivity is an essential prerequisite for dissolving pulp. In this study, xylanase modification to increase the reactivity of bamboo dissolving pulp was investigated. The original reactivity of a bamboo dissolving pulp prepared by a prehydrolysis kraft pulping process and bleached by (OP)-H-P (oxygen delignification enhanced with peroxide sodium hypochlorite - peroxide) is very low. The reactivity of the pulp was increased drastically after xylanase modification, which lowered the pulp's pentosan content. Simultaneously, the crystallinity index of the dissolving pulp decreased slightly after xylanase modification. The microscopic appearance of the fiber surfaces changed slightly. The average curl and kink indices were lower at a xylanase charge of 1.0 IU/g compared to the other charges, while changes to the yield loss and the degree of polymerization were negligible. The mechanism for the increased pulp reactivity is discussed.