Can bagasse be used to produce molded pulp tableware?

Bagasse can only be used to produce pulp molded tableware after it has been processed into sugarcane pulp.

Bagasse has a complex structure, but its main components are cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Among them, hemicellulose is about 20.6%, and lignin is 18.6%. The content of cellulose in bagasse is about 35.4%, which is composed of β-1, 4-glucosidic bond linked glucopyranoside, which is a two-phase coexistence system (coexistence of crystalline region and amorphous region). The crystalline region contains hydroxyl groups that easily form hydrogen bonds with surface water molecules, and the crystalline part of cellulose is difficult to be decomposed. Hemicellulose is chemically similar to cellulose. It is a heterogeneous polysaccharide with different hexyl and pentose groups linked by β-14 oxygen bridges. Its degree of polymerization is relatively small. The hemicellulose of bagasse The protein contains about 70% cellulose and 30% polyarabinose.

The main component of paper is plant fiber. Bagasse is rich in hemicellulose, cellulose, lignin, etc. It is an excellent raw material for papermaking. However, if the bagasse is directly pulped mechanically, due to the influence of lignin, it will cause grinding The energy consumption of pulp is too large, and the cost of pulping is high, so it is necessary to try to eliminate lignin. Lignin is an important component of bagasse, with a molecular weight of 10,000-50,000 accounting for about 95%. The lignin in bagasse is mainly distributed in the epidermis. It combines with hemicellulose to form a strong protective layer, which hinders the contact between microorganisms or enzymes and cellulose, making it difficult to hydrolyze bagasse.

Sugarcane pulp made from bagasse is usually mass-produced by chemical and mechanical methods, while pulp molded tableware usually uses the finished pulp board of bagasse as raw material, and bagasse cannot be directly used.