Investigating the Physical Properties of Paper Produced by Blending of Water Hyacinth and Dried Flowers

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-1820778/v1

Download PDF

Research Article

Investigating the Physical Properties of Paper Produced by Blending of Water Hyacinth and Dried Flowers

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1820778/v1

This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License

You are reading this latest preprint version

The production of paper is a key component for global civilization. Around 300 million tonnes of paper being produced every day globally, with matured pulp wood being the major contributor. Due to rising demand for paper and the depletion of available wood resources, Researchers are now focused on finding alternative non-wood resources that are suitable for pulp and paper production. The current study aims to produce eco-friendly and biodegradable paper using a combination of Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth) and dried flowers. Water hyacinth is considered as a lignocellulose plant which contains 57% ligno-cellulose and dried flower contains 40% cellulose, which is the prime source for paper production. Various sections of water hyacinth, including wet and dry petiole, leaves and root were blended with dried flowers through soda process. Then, the physical properties and FTIR analysis was carrier out to identify the quality of the paper produced. The paper produced from root and dried petiole has a lower thickness (1.0mm and 0.5mm) than other mix proportion. The opacity of the leaves was found to be (0.5% light passing) and the root (0.7% light passing). Also, the dry petiole paper and root has a good dry-tensile strength of 1.30Kpa and 1.20Kpa respectively. Hence, paper made from dry petiole and root was found to be efficient and suitable for paper industry.

Biodegradable

Dried flowers

Water hyacinth

Wood

Paper

Pulp

Paper products are essential to society since they have facilitated literacy and cultural progress. Over 400 million tonnes of paper are produced annually by paper mills worldwide. China, the United States, and Japan are the three largest paper-producing nations in the world, together accounting for 50% global paper production. Germany and the United States are the two main importers and exporters of papers. In the digital age, paper is still used for a number of purposes on a daily basis, and it continues to play a significant role in society. The most often manufactured types of paper are packaging paper and board, with demand rising in recent years as a result of the online shopping boom. The demand for paper is predicted to rise steadily over the next decade, peaking at over 461 million metric tonnes in 2023 (Uprichard et al, 1993). Worldwide consumption of paper has risen to 400% in the last 40 years with 35% of harvested trees being used for paper manufacture (Sridash, 2010). The use of trees for paper making leads to deforestation, which can quickly wipe away vast swaths of this remarkable diversity. It also adds to global warming by causing more carbon dioxide to be released into the environment. Scientists believe that forest loss is responsible for 23% of man-made carbon dioxide emissions. To solve this issue, an alternative action plan is required. Making ecologically friendly paper is an immediate necessity. Since, it will significantly reduce the consumption of wood chips, resulting in less deforestation (Albeiosu et al, 2019).

A member of the family Pontedariaceae, water hyacinth is a free-floating aquatic plant. A cellulose-rich plant that grows rapidly in ponds, water hyacinth can serve as an alternate source of material for papermaking (Istirokhatum et al. 2015). This plant has the potential to generate enormous quantities of seeds each year. The shelf life of these seeds is 28 years (Sullivan et al. 2012). It will penetrate the water body within one to two weeks. Because of its terrifying reproductive and dispersal capacities, it is regarded as a hazardous plant species for biodiversity. The water hyacinth displaces native vegetation when it enters a new area, making it invasive. This displacement effect can have an impact on the native biota, resulting in a drop-in biodiversity, a decrease in food, and changes in ecological processes (Dwivedi et al.2018). As compared to processing wood chips, water hyacinth requires far less energy and produces far less chemical waste (Eichhorn et al, 2011). Deforestation, energy consumption, and global warming will therefore decrease, resulting in the creation of superior products from environmental wastes.

The handling of solid waste is another major challenge. Agricultural by-products, temple waste, household trash, and non-edible oil cake waste are the main sources of carbon. Waste from flowers is one of the biggest threats. Dry flowers account for around 15% of the global floriculture business.According to research, the Ganges receives an annual input of around 80,000 metric tonnes of flowers (Tabassum et al, 2002). Every day, about two million tonnes of floral waste are discarded in India during religious rites, most of which can be totally recycled. Chemical fertilisers and pesticides used in flower cultivation may have an impact on aquatic life and water resources. As a result, the management of temple flowers' waste can act as an effective source of raw materials for handmade paper (Waghmode et al.2018). This method reduces the amount of waste produced by city temples even while recycling and reusing it to create paper that is beneficial to the environment. Aside from being entirely devoid of wood and chemicals and having no hazardous by-products, handmade paper created from floral waste offers a number of advantages (Islam et al, 2021). The crucial idea of reduce, reuse, and recycle can therefore be used to the creation of handmade paper.

Hence, the purpose of this study is to create ecologically friendly and biodegradable paper by processing water hyacinth into cellulosic pulp by blending with dried flowers and to access the physical properties of paper produced.

Collection of Raw Materials

Water hyacinth was collected from Noyil River and Perur Lake, Coimbatore. Each part of water hyacinth like wet petiole, leaves, root and dry petiole were taken for the study except the flower. The alkaline solution, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) was used to aid in the grinding of fibres in a blender machine. Dried flowers were collected from local temples.

Soda Process

The soda process, often known as soda pulping, is a chemical method for producing paper. Initially, different parts of the water hyacinth, such as the wet petiole, leaves, and root were used for the soda process. The wet petioles collected were kept for drying for about 2 – 3 days to make it as a dry petiole. The water hyacinth's wet petiole, leaves, root, and dry petiole are then sliced into 2-3inch pieces for pulping. Separately, the chopped raw materials were boiled at 80℃ in a cooking pot with 3-5% of NaOH for 50 minutes. After boiling, each parts of water hyacinth were cooled at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Blending of Pulp

Each component of the water hyacinth was blended separately with dried flowers and was placed in the blender machine. These ingredients were blended until they formed as a smooth pulp to make it suitable for settling in the wooden frame (Fig. 2). Then, it was left to drying under sunlight for 1-2 days.

Physical Test Analysis of Paper

The various physical properties were analysed like thickness, tensile strength, paper texture, opacity and net weight. Tensile strength of paper is the maximum stress required to break a strip of paper. It is used to find out how the paper is resistant to web break. Tensile strength was measured with the “Testometric Micro 350” –instrument. The value of tensile speed was set to 100 mm/min and the range was 1000 N/T. The size of the test piece was 15 mm width and 180 mm length. The thickness of the paper and board was measured using the Lorentzen & Wettre Micro meter.

Opacity is the ability of paper to hide a colour or object in the reverse side of the paper sheet. It was measured using an opacimeter. The paper with a high degree of opacity does not allow the light to pass through it, while paper with a low opacity degree is more translucent (Hossain et al, 2022).

Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy Analysis

Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) has been developed as a technique for determining the organic components, including chemical bonds and organic content, at the same time. The spectrum can produce data such as “absorption versus wavenumber” or “transmission versus wavenumber”. Infrared radiation from the electromagnetic spectrum can be absorbed by the bonds between atoms in a molecule, causing them to vibrate. The wavelength and energy of infrared absorptions are characteristics of the chemical bond type. In this study, Scientific Nicolet Summit FTIR Spectrometer was used for the analysis of paper.

The deforestation that causes climate change, species extinction, disruption of the hydrological cycle, and soil degradation are only a few of the effects brought together by the paper industry, which uses wood as a raw material. The concept that the world would become paperless is now being strongly opposed by an increase in pulp and paper demand on a worldwide scale. However, due to environmental concerns, there is a growing movement worldwide to move away from relying on wood and towards more sustainable non-wood based raw materials (Jaffur et al, 2019).

The necessity for environment protection has recently emerged as a new strategy as a result of the global environmental challenges that have been growing since the 1970s and raising awareness of environmental protection. The first step is to properly comprehend the differences between the traditional method and the eco-friendly approach, which are societal perspectives in terms of ideology, beliefs, and concern for the environment. Eco-friendly paper is one such kind which seems to be less harmful to the environment from manufacture to disposal. Eco-friendly papers, for instance, are produced using a variety of materials, including bamboo, kenaf, jute, and sugar cane bagasse (Asrofi et al, 2017) (Kumar et al, 2016) (Mari et al, 2 012). In a similar manner, we made an attempt to produce an eco-friendly paper by using water hyacinth and dried flowers. The pulp was produced by performing soda process using different parts of water hyacinth along with dried flowers which was then evenly distributed in wooden frame size range of 1.5*1.5cm as shown in the Fig.3.

Physical Examination of Paper

The physical properties of paper produced from various components of the water hyacinth, as well as dried flowers, were investigated (Fig. 4). The paper made from wet petiole and leaves was pale white in colour and literally looks like the paper published by Carbonell et al, 2010. The colour of root and dry petiole was dark colour in nature due to this, the paper obtained after complete drying was brownish in colour.

The colour variability induced by stain and ink in paper made from recycled/ eco-friendly paper is one of the most important challenges. Processes like ink removal, dyeing, and bleaching are used to achieve uniform colour in paper. However, Sutcu and Sahin 2017 discovered that when the recycling procedure was employed on bleached Kraft pulp, the whiteness and gloss ratios rose by 5.1 and 9.1%, respectively, in comparison to control samples when 5% of sodium hydroxide was utilised. Even to increase the paper's adhesion, several mordants were employed; alum was found to be the most effective.

In this study, the use of NaOH and dried flowers equals the smoothness of the paper. Increase in NaOH concentration degraded the 60% of chlorophyll content in leaves which resulted in pale white appearance in paper produced from the leaf section of water hyacinth (Ndimele et al, 2011).

The paper made from root and dried petiole had a lower thickness than other papers, according to this study. These papers also have a net weight of 0.2g (wet petiole), 0.18g (leaves), 0.12g (root), and 0.1g (dry petiole) respectively. The leaves and roots have a high degree of opacity. Whereas, the opacity of wet petiole was relatively less than dry petiole. It is recommended that the tensile strength for wood should be between 2 and 12 k N/m. But, the tensile strength of the paper made from water hyacinth and dried flowers was almost or less than 2k N/m. The root and dry petiole revealed a thickness range that was similar to that of blotting paper (0.5mm) (TAPPI testing standards).

The paper produced from dry petiole and root parts produced excellent outcomes. This is because, as compared to other sections, the root contains a larger quantity of fibre and also the blending process was smooth compared to other pulp mix proportions. Compared to other portions of the water hyacinth, the petiole has a greater amount of cellulose. Altogether, the test ranges of paper made from dried flowers and water hyacinth showed a value that was similar to or a little less of standard wood paper.

Table 1 Characterization of paper produced from different parts of water hyacinth

Specimen	Test Range
Specimen	Wet petiole	Leaves	Root	Dry Petiole
Size	1.5*1.5cm	1.5*1.5cm	1.5*1.5cm	1.5*1.5cm
Colour	Pale white	Pale white	Light brown	Dark brown
Thickness	2.0mm	1.5mm	1.0mm	0.5mm
Net Weight	0.2g	0.18g	0.12g	0.1g
Tensile Strength	1.26Kpa	2.0Kpa	1.20Kpa	1.30Kpa
Opacity	0.2% light passing	0.5% light passing	0.7% light passing	0.4% light passing

FTIR Analysis of Paper

The FTIR analysis graph was done for the papers produced from wet and dry petioles, roots and leaves.

There were no sharp peaks observed in the finger print (500-1500cm^-1) region in the above Fig. 5a. However, alkyl halides were detected in the range of 571.92 cm^-1. Due to the existence of alkenyl C=C stretch or alkenes, a complex molecule, an absorption band is visible in the double bond (1500-200 cm^-1) region which makes the uses in paper industry. In the triple bond (2000-2500 cm^-1) area, no absorption band was seen. Fig. 5b shows the FTIR of dry petiole. In the single bond area, a narrow broad peak (3451.76 cm^-1) was seen, indicating heterocyclic amine,>N-H stretch forms structure and it also used as catalytic bleaching in pulp industry. The presence of 20669.71 cm^-1transition metal carbonyls or iso-cyanite, a complex structure shows the presence of carbon content (-NCS) in the paper.

In the above Fig. 5c, two absorption bands 3368.17cm^-1and 2925.17 cm^-1were seen, representing the hydroxyl group, H-bonded OH stretch or typical polymeric OH stretch, and methyne C-H stretch indicates that it can be used in recycled pulp making process. In the triple bond (2000-2500 cm^-1) region, no absorption peaks were found. The alkenyl C=C stretch (1657.89 cm^-1) represents a complex compound; it’s necessary in making paper sizing and bags. Fig. 5d shows that the FTIR Analysis was done for paper produced from leaves. A wide band 560.35 cm^-1 obtained in the finger print region indicates the presence of alcohol group which gives physical strength and surface strength to a paper or paper board. The presence of primary amine, used to form structure and it also release fibres. NH bend at the region 1637.64 cm^-1, form complex compound and it is indicated by a narrow band in the double bond area (1500-200 cm^-1). In a triple bond, transition metal carbonyls, a complex structure (2070.67 cm^-1) were discovered. Heterocyclic amine,>N-H stretch 3467.20 cm^-1is achieved between the range of 3000-3500 cm^-1. Hence, the FTIR analysis clearly represents the presence of organic or function groups present in the papers produced.

The traditional way of making paper requires cellulose, which comes from wood chips harvested from downed trees leads to increase in global warming. Additionally, the utilization of chemicals in this process results in the discharge of hazardous compounds that pollute the environment. As a result, this study employed a mix of water hyacinth and dried flowers to produce paper in an environmentally friendly manner. The paper made from dried petioles and leaves of water hyacinth combined with dried flowers has been shown to be effective and found to have attributes similar to wood paper, according to physical parameters and infrared spectroscopy assessment. The cost of paper generated from water hyacinth and dried flowers will be cheaper than that of paper made from wood. By using this method of paper production, the water hyacinth's rate of reproduction and ability to disperse in lakes may also be decreased, and also floral waste dumped into water resources will progressively diminish. Finally, by alternating the pulp wood paper, it is an excellent means of conserving the environment, resulting in less deforestation and global warming.

Funding: Not applicable

Authors’ contributions: Nivetha B and Vimala Devi S performed the experiments. Nivetha B wrote the manuscript draft and interpreted the results. Santhiya K provided the guidance, corrected, and approved the final manuscript.

Funding: Not applicable

Data availability: All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable

Consent for publication: Not applicable

Competing interest: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Albeiosu SO, Akindiya IO, Raji AM, Adefidipe OA (2019) Investigating the Physical and Mechanical Properties of Broadleaf Cattail (Typha Latifolia) and Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia Crassipes). IJERT 8(2):119–122
Asrofi M, Abral H, Kasim A, Pratoto A (2017) Characterization of the microfibrillated cellulose from water hyacinth pulp after alkali treatment and wet blending. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering 204 (1):012018
Carbonell RJ (2010) Evaluation of the Durability of Handmade Paper Made of Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) Pulp. St. Scholastica's Academy, Marikina City
Dwivedi M, Dwivedi AK (2018) Valuable product from water hyacinth–review paper. Int Res J Eng Technol 5:838–843
Eichhorn J (2000) Water hyacinth paper. Contributions to a sustainable future
Hossain MS, Hosen MD, Hossen S, Islam MA, Kabir MH (2020) Tensile Strength of Paper Produced from Different Body Parts of Water Hyacinth.International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology10(2)
Islam MN, Rahman F, Papri SA, Faruk MO, Das AK, Adhikary N, Ahsan MN (2021) Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms.) as an alternative raw material for the production of bio-compost and handmade paper. J Environ Manage 294:113036
Istirokhatun T, Rokhati N, Rachmawaty R, Meriyani M, Priyanto S, Susanto H (2015) Cellulose isolation from tropical water hyacinth for membrane preparation. Procedia Environ Sci 23:274–281
Jaffur N, Jeetah P (2019) Production of low cost paper from Pandanus utilis fibres as a substitution to wood. Sustain Environ Res 29:20
Kumar V, Chopra AK, Singh J, Thakur RK, Srivastava S, Chauhan RK (2016) Comparative assessment of phytoremediation feasibility of water caltrop (Trapanatans L.) and water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes Solms.) using pulp and paper mill effluent. AAES 1(1):13–21
Mari EL, Austria CO, Lapuz ARP (2010) Effect of water hyacinth extract on paper. Philipp. Forest Products J. Standards Handbook. Paper, board and pulps
Ndimele PE, Johnson CA, Anetekhai MA (2011) The invasive aquatic macrophyte, water hyacinth {Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solm-Laubach: Pontedericeae}: problems and prospects. Res J Environ Sci 5(6):509
Ogunwusi A, Ibrahim HD (2014) Advances in Pulp and Paper Technology and the Implication for the Paper Industry in Nigeria. Industrial Eng Lett 4:3–11
Sridash W (2010) The environmentally benign pulping process of non wood fibres. Suranaree J Sci Technol 17(2):105–123
Sullivan PR, Wood R (2012) Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms) seed longevity and the implications for management. (No. 1932, pp. 37–40)
Sutcu A, Sahin HT (2017) Chemical treatment of recycled pulp fibres for property development: part 1. effects on bleached kraft pulps. Drewno 60(200):95–109
Tabassum R, Ghaffoor A, Waseem K, Nadeem MA (2002) Evaluation of Rose Cultivars as Cut Flower Production. Asian J Plant Sci 1:668–669
Uprichard JM, Walker JCF (1993) Pulp and paper manufacture. Primary Wood Processing. Springer, Dordrecht
Waghmode MS, Gunjal AB, Nawani NN, Patil NN (2018) Management of floral waste by conversion to value-added products and their other applications. Waste Biomass Valoriz 9(1):33–43

Download PDF

Reviewers agreed at journal
10 Aug, 2022
Reviewers invited by journal
09 Aug, 2022
Editor assigned by journal
08 Jul, 2022
First submitted to journal
03 Jul, 2022

You are reading this latest preprint version

Investigating the Physical Properties of Paper Produced by Blending of Water Hyacinth and Dried Flowers

Status:

Version 1

Abstract

Figures

Introduction

Methodology

Result And Discussion

Conclusion

Statement And Declaration

References

Status:

Version 1