Chemical Composition of Russian Miscanthus and the Quality of Cellulose Obtained from It
The chemical composition of two miscanthus crops from the plantations one and two years old was determined: the plant in general, stem and leaves separately. It was established that the concentration of non-cellulose components (adipocere fraction, ash, acid-insoluble lignin) in leaves in higher than in stem; cellulose and pentosanes are dominant in stem. It was shown that celluloses obtained by the nitric method from leaves and stems separately differ in yield and quality: the ash value and mass fraction of residual lignin in cellulose from leaves are higher than those for cellulose from stem, while the mass fraction of a-cellulose and the degree of polymerization are smaller for cellulose from leaves than for cellulose from stem. It was established that cellulose from miscanthus stem from two-year-old plantation is characterized by high quality: the mass fraction of a-cellulose is 94 %, polymerization degree 800, ash value 0.07 %, mass fraction of residual lignin 0.5 %, pentosanes 0.4 %.