Title
Extraction and characterization of cellulose fibers from cattail leaves: morphological, microstructural and thermal properties
Authors
ZIHAO DONG, SI WU, YINZHI YANG, BOHAN PANG, XINWANG CAO, WEI KE, SHENGYU LI and LINGSHAN LIU

Received June, 28, 2025
Published Volume 60 Issue 3-4 March-April
Keywords cattail fiber, pectinase, cellulose

Abstract
Due to the excessive exploitation of petrochemical resources, the development of new materials, especially natural fiber materials, has attracted increasing attention and extensive concern in academic and industrial fields. As a typical natural plant fiber, cattail has a chemical composition similar to that of hemp. However, its traditional degumming process is not only costly, but also prone to causing severe environmental pollution. In the present study, improved degumming methods were adopted: after dilute alkali pretreatment, cattail fibers were subjected to alkali-peroxide and pectinase treatments, respectively. The results indicated that both processes (dilute alkali pretreatment followed by pectinase treatment, and dilute alkali pretreatment followed by alkali-peroxide treatment) exhibited excellent degumming effects, and most of the non-cellulosic components (e.g., hemicelluloses, lignin and pectin) were effectively removed. Specifically, after pectinase treatment, the cellulose content and crystallinity were 60.37% and 59.43%, respectively. In contrast, after alkali-peroxide treatment, the content of cellulose and the crystallinity were 52.42% and 51.13%, respectively. In terms of degumming rate, the alkali-peroxide treatment achieved a degumming rate of approximately 40%, while the pectinase treatment yielded a degumming rate of more than 55%. Furthermore, the pectinase degumming was mild and caused little damage to fiber structure. Collectively, the cattail fibers prepared by the improved degumming methods are expected to become a promising alternative material in the textile industry