Fried oil absorption property of nonwoven from rice straw cellulose fiber

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to study cellulose fiber extraction from rice straw with sodium hydroxide in various conditions (with 5 , 1 0 and 1 0 % of sodium hydroxide at room temperature, 60ºC and 90 ºC for 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 hours) and to study rice straw nonwovens preparation by the wet-laid process. Oil wicking ability, oil absorption ability, air permeability, morphology and physical properties of prepared nonwovens were investigated. It was found that the optimal condition for cellulose fiber extraction from rice straw was 5% of sodium hydroxide at 90 ºC for 2 hours. At this condition, the cellulose fiber yield of 2 2% and the fiber length of 1 . 9 6 cm were obtained. The oil wicking ability and oil absorption ability of rice straw nonwovens increased when weight per unit area increased. Therefore, oil absorbed into gaps between fibers of the nonwovens by capillary effect. Moreover, the nonwovens could wick and absorb virgin palm oil better than fried palm oil because virgin palm oil has a lower viscosity than fried palm oil. The viscosity increased from derived lipid and other substances which dissolve and disperse increasing after frying food. The results indicated that the rice straw nonwovens had oil absorption ability.