skip to main content
Language:
Search Limited to: Search Limited to: Resource type Show Results with: Show Results with: Search type Index

Turning Waste into Treasure: The Full Technological Process and Product Performance Characterization of Flushable Wet Wipes Prepared from Corn Stalk

Materials, 2023-11, Vol.16 (22), p.7189 [Peer Reviewed Journal]

COPYRIGHT 2023 MDPI AG ;2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License. ;ISSN: 1996-1944 ;EISSN: 1996-1944 ;DOI: 10.3390/ma16227189

Full text available

Citations Cited by
  • Title:
    Turning Waste into Treasure: The Full Technological Process and Product Performance Characterization of Flushable Wet Wipes Prepared from Corn Stalk
  • Author: Liu, Lulu ; Wang, Yeying ; He, Ziying ; Cai, Yang ; Meng, Kai ; Zhang, Ke-Qin ; Zhao, Huijing
  • Subjects: Adhesives ; Bleaching ; Cellulose fibers ; Chemical bonds ; Control equipment industry ; Corn ; corn stalk ; Dispersion ; flushable wipes ; Mechanical properties ; nonwoven materials ; Plastic pollution ; Poloxamers ; pulp board ; Raw materials ; Synthetic fibers ; Temperature ; Water absorption ; Webs ; Wet strength ; wet-laid web formation ; Wood pulp
  • Is Part Of: Materials, 2023-11, Vol.16 (22), p.7189
  • Description: As a daily consumable, wet wipes are mostly synthetic fibers, which are incinerated or landfilled after use. The nanoplastics generated during this process will lead to environmental pollution. The application of flushable wet wipes, which are dispersible and fully degradable, is of great significance. The main raw material for flushable wipes is wood pulp, which has a long growth cycle and high cost. Corn is widely planted and has a short growth cycle. Currently most corn stalk is treated by incineration, which produces a lot of smoke that pollutes the environment. Therefore, using corn stalk as the raw material for flushable wet wipes, replacing wood pulp, is both cost-effective and environmentally friendly. In this study, aiming at industrial production, we explored the full process of producing flushable wet wipes from corn stalk to pulp board, then to the final wipes. The corn stalk was treated using alkali and a bleaching agent to obtain corn stalk pulp, which was then made into pulp board through the nonwoven wet-laid process. The optimal parameters for the alkali treatment and bleaching were obtained. The properties of the corn stalk pulp board were compared with the commercial wood pulp board. Further, we mixed the corn stalk pulp with Lyocell fiber to prepare wet-laid webs, which were then bonded using a chemical binder poloxamer. Then, the evenness of the web, mechanical properties, absorption, and dispersibility of the flushable wipes were characterized. Results showed that the pulp obtained using the optimal treatment process has a high yield and better whiteness. The properties of the corn stalk pulp board are comparable with the commercial wood pulp board, which can therefore potentially be replaced by the corn stalk board prepared in our study. The prepared flushable wet wipes had good evenness and their water absorption rate was more than 600%. The mechanical strength in dry and wet states achieved 595.94 N/m and 179.00 N/m, respectively. Most importantly, the wet wipes can completely disperse under the standardized testing method. A good balance of dispersibility and wet strength of the wet wipes was achieved.
  • Publisher: Basel: MDPI AG
  • Language: English
  • Identifier: ISSN: 1996-1944
    EISSN: 1996-1944
    DOI: 10.3390/ma16227189
  • Source: Geneva Foundation Free Medical Journals at publisher websites
    Directory of Open Access Journals
    NCBI PubMed Central（免费）
    Coronavirus Research Database
    ROAD: Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resources
    ProQuest Central
Back to results list
INSPIRE LIBRARY - TON DUC THANG UNIVERSITY (84-028) 37 755 057 Feedback
19 Nguyen Huu Tho St. Dist.7, HCM thuvien@tdtu.edu.vn

Copyright © 2017 INSPIRE LIBRARY - TON DUC THANG UNIVERSITY

Searching Remote Databases, Please Wait