Efficient bleaching of non-wood high-quality paper pulp using laccase-mediator system

High-quality flax pulp was bleached in a totally-chlorine-free (TCF) sequence using a laccase-mediator system. Three fungal laccases (from Pycnoporus cinnabarinus , Trametes versicolorand Pleurotus eryngii) and two mediators, 2,2 � -azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6sulfonic acid) and 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HBT), were compared. P. cinnabarinusand T. versicolor laccases in the presence of HBT gave the best results in terms of high brightness and low lignin content (kappa number). The former laccase also resulted in the best preservation of cellulose and the largest removal of residual lignin as revealed by analytical pyrolysis, and was selected for subsequent TCF bleaching. Up to 90% delignification and strong brightness increase were attained after a laccase-mediator treatment followed by H 2O2 bleaching. This TCF sequence was further improved by applying H2O2 under pressurized O2. In this way, we obtained up to 82% ISO brightness (compared with 37% in the initial pulp, and 60% in the peroxide-bleached control) and very low kappa number (near 1). Good results were also found when the laccase-mediator treatment was performed in a bioreactor under pressurized oxygen. The pulp properties obtained, which could not be attained by conventional TCF bleaching of flax pulp, demonstrate the feasibility of enzymatic bleaching to substitute chlorine-containing reagents in manufacturing of these high-price paper pulps.

[1]  Raymond A. Young,et al.  Enviromentally friendly technologies for the pulp and paper industry , 1998 .

[2]  H. Call,et al.  History, overview and applications of mediated lignolytic systems, especially laccase-mediator-systems (Lignozym-process) , 1997 .

[3]  J. Kulys,et al.  Redox Chemistry in Laccase-Catalyzed Oxidation of N-Hydroxy Compounds , 2000, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[4]  R. Bourbonnais,et al.  Oxidation of non‐phenolic substrates , 1990, FEBS letters.

[5]  E. Record,et al.  Expression of the Pycnoporus cinnabarinus laccase gene in Aspergillus niger and characterization of the recombinant enzyme. , 2002, European journal of biochemistry.

[6]  A. Gutiérrez,et al.  Identification of residual lignin markers in eucalypt kraft pulps by Py–GC/MS , 2001 .

[7]  Roy B. Dodd,et al.  Chemical and Structural Analysis of Fibre and Core Tissues from Flax , 1996 .

[8]  E. Srebotnik,et al.  Degradation of nonphenolic lignin by the laccase/1-hydroxybenzotriazole system. , 2000, Journal of biotechnology.

[9]  R. Bourbonnais,et al.  Electrochemical analysis of the interactions of laccase mediators with lignin model compounds. , 1998, Biochimica et biophysica acta.

[10]  Ángel T. Martínez,et al.  Production of hydrogen peroxide by aryl-alcohol oxidase from the ligninolytic fungusPleurotus eryngii , 2004, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.

[11]  I. Herpoël,et al.  Selection of Pycnoporus cinnabarinus strains for laccase production. , 2000, FEMS Microbiology Letters.

[12]  S. Kawai,et al.  Degradation mechanisms of a nonphenolic β-O-4 lignin model dimer by Trametes versicolor laccase in the presence of 1-hydroxybenzotriazole , 2002 .

[13]  P. J. Nelson,et al.  The use of a laccase mediator stage in bleaching eucalypt kraft pulps , 1998 .

[14]  M. Asther,et al.  Purification, crystallisation and X-ray diffraction study of fully functional laccases from two ligninolytic fungi. , 2002, Biochimica et biophysica acta.

[15]  F. J. Ruiz-Dueñas,et al.  Purification and catalytic properties of two manganese peroxidase isoenzymes from Pleurotus eryngii. , 1996, European journal of biochemistry.

[16]  I. Reid,et al.  Oxidative bleaching enzymes: a review , 1995 .

[17]  Göran Gellerstedt,et al.  On the structural significance of the kappa number measurement , 1998 .

[18]  R. Bourbonnais,et al.  Reactivities of various mediators and laccases with kraft pulp and lignin model compounds , 1997, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[19]  A. Ragauskas,et al.  The Kismet of Residual During LMS Delignification of High-Kappa Kraft Pulps , 2000 .

[20]  I. Dimitrov,et al.  Totally chlorine-free bleaching of flax pulp. , 2002, Bioresource technology.

[21]  C. Johannes,et al.  Natural Mediators in the Oxidation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons by Laccase Mediator Systems , 2000, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[22]  A. Ragauskas,et al.  The Effects of Oxidative Alkaline Extraction Stages After LaccaseHBT and LaccaseNHAA Treatments-An NMR Study of Residual Lignins , 2000 .

[23]  Feng Xu,et al.  Comparison of Fungal Laccases and Redox Mediators in Oxidation of a Nonphenolic Lignin Model Compound , 1999, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[24]  G. L. Sant'anna,et al.  Laccase from Trametes versicolor , 1999, Applied biochemistry and biotechnology.

[25]  S. Camarero,et al.  Optimization of a Laccase-Mediator Stage for TCF Bleaching of Flax Pulp , 2003 .

[26]  A. Kirkman,et al.  Biobleaching of Pulp with Dioxygen in the Laccase-Mediator System. Part 1. Kinetics of Delignification , 2000 .

[27]  F.H.A. Zomers,et al.  Industrial Fibre Crops - study on: increased application of domestically-produced plant fibres in textiles, pulp and paper production and composite materials (EC DGXII - 1994 EUR 16101 EN) , 1995 .

[28]  P. T. Higuchi.  Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Wood , 1997, Springer Series in Wood Science.

[29]  K. Eriksson,et al.  Biotechnology in the pulp and paper industry , 1990, Wood Science and Technology.

[30]  F. J. Ruiz-Dueñas,et al.  Regulation of Peroxidase Transcript Levels in Liquid Cultures of the Ligninolytic Fungus Pleurotus eryngii , 1999, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[31]  P. LaFayette,et al.  Molecular Analysis of a Laccase Gene from the White Rot Fungus Pycnoporus cinnabarinus , 1998, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.