Huge amount of waste hemicellulose liquor annually produced in China was burned or discharged into surrounding environment without further sufficient utilization, causing severely environmental issues. In order to solve this problem, this study aimed to find a way to effectively use aqueous waste hemicellulose solution from viscose fiber mills for bio-based materials development. Hereby, polyacrylamide-hemicellulose hybrid films were synthesized through the copolymerization of acrylamide (AM) monomers and hemicellulose initiated by potassium persulfate/N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine (KPS/TMEDA) redox initiator system with cross-linker N,N-Methylene-bis(acrylamide) (MBA). The as-prepared films had been further characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), mechanical test, light transmittance determination and oxygen transmission rate measurement. The results showed that the hybrid films possessed many advantages, such as ambient-temperature water solubility, good recyclability, high stretchable properties and low oxygen permeability. These properties implied their application potentials in several areas, such as packaging electronics products, food and pesticide. Moreover, the utilization of aqueous waste hemicellulose solution from viscose fiber mills will have huge market potential and economic benefits.
Keywords: Hemicellulose waste liquor; Hybrid film; Water soluble.
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