Preparation of Straw Microcrystalline Cellulose by Microwave Hydrolysis and Energy-Efficiency Analysis

The preparation of microcrystalline cellulose(MCC) by microwave hydrolysis was optimized.The results indicated that when hydrochloric acid mass fraction was 6%,reaction time was 10 min,microwave power was 231 W,ratio of solid to liquid was 1∶20(g∶mL),the yield of MCC was 87.00% and it was only 23.1% of energy consumption in comparison with the conventional heating method.It was confirmed that microwave hydrolysis could enhance the process of damaging the amorphous region of straw fiber structure,and increase the product crystallinity besides lowering molecular polymerization degree,but characteristics of cellulose molecule did not change by microscopic analysis.