Abstract
The traditional Hanji-making was confronted with lots of industrial disadvantages and economic problems, due to the original hand-made process. Recently, the studies on the automation of overall Hanji manufacturing process is carried out by applying the commercial chemical pulping method in order to expand industrial application or efficiency of non-wood fibrous materials. However, the application of commercial pulping methods to the bast tissues of paper mulberry leads to the chemical and mechanical deterioration of cellulosic fibers. In this study, the optimal cooking method using the bast parts of paper mulberry produced by an auto-scraping device was applied to minimize the damage of fiber strength for the paper yarn manufacture. The pre-steaming treatment and alkaline pulping systems were evaluated in removal efficiency of lignin and pectin materials within the bast tissue of paper mulberry. With the application of pre-steaming treatment and 2 stage pulping system using potassium carbonate and then sodium hydroxide, kappa values were decreased two times more in lignin removal than the single stage of pulping method. It was also identified from SEM images and ATR-FTIR spectra that the pectin components within cellular structure of bast tissue were easily removed and the debarked bast parts by a auto-scraping device were easily defiberized by 2-stage pulping sequence using potassium carbonate/sodium hydroxide pulping system.
