Oat fibers modification by reactive extrusion with alkaline hydrogen peroxide

Abstract

The modification of lignocellulosic fibers can enhance their interaction with other materials and alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP) is a reagent widely used to promote such modification. This work aimed to modify oat hulls fibers by reactive extrusion using AHP (7 g 100 g^-1 of hulls). The modified oat hulls displayed performances comparable to those observed by other researchers using conventional AHP method (without extrusion). The AHP treated oat hulls showed increased luminosity compared to the extruded ones. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed differences between the modified and unmodified structures. The removal of surface compounds resulted in a more open morphology, with greater surface area and greater porosity. Reactive extrusion can be an alternative method for fiber modification with several advantages, such as short processing time and no wastewater generation.

Keywords:
chemical modification; lignocellulosic fibers; microstructure; thermal stability