engleski

Morphological analysis of fibres extracted from lignocellulosic biomass – resources of renewable energy

Lignocellulosic biomass is one of the best known raw materials for obtaining sustainable and environmentally friendly energy. The morphological characteristics of the cross section of two energy crops: miscanthus (Miscanthus giganteus) and Virginia marshmallow (Sida hermaphrodita), as well as two self-seeding crops: giant reed (Arundo donax) and Spanish broom (Spartium junceum) were examined in this paper. Fibres or sclerenchyma are present in plants as supporting tissue whose irregularly shaped cells are "framed" by a lignified cell wall to allow the plant to withstand weight, stretch, strain and bend. In addition to the production of renewable energy, these crops can also be used as raw materials for the production of fibres that can be used as reinforcements in the production of biocomposite materials. The establishment of such a production process where the waste of one industry becomes the input raw material of another industry respects the main task of the circular economy with the aim of reducing waste. Scanning electron microscopy was employed to analyse morphological characteristics of cross sections of plant stems and their inner fibres in order to determine the quality of fibrous reinforcement, which will be used in biocomposite production. SEM proved to be an efficient tool for the determination of structural features of lignocellulosic biomass and its degradation after performed pretreatments.

scanning electron microscopy, circular economy, lignocellulosic biomass, natural fibre reinforcement, biocomposites

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