Proposal of a Compostable Filter Medium Using Cellulose Fibers from Sugarcane Bagasse

The pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus known as COVID-19 has generated an increase in the consumption of clothing focused on reducing the risk of contagion and respiratory diseases, with masks being the fundamental article to combat the spread of COVID-19 According to OMS, the problem associated with the exponential increase in the use of surgical masks is related to the 100% increase in demand in companies such as IWR Comercial, a similar case of 3M, being import companies in Colombia and in the case Colombian companies such as Industrias Saver, it is estimated that 90% of the masks can end their useful life in streets, landfills or even in the ocean, generating an environmental problem due to the material from which they are manufactured, which indicates more than 400 years to its disintegration.

In the first place, the proposal of a filter medium using cellulose fibers is developed from the agroindustrial residue of sugar cane, to be incorporated in cloth masks and contribute to filtering efficiency, being for Colombia the cultivation of sugar cane the second to the greatest extent, based on contamination caused by surgical masks and the uncertainty associated with the filtration of cloth masks, new alternatives that are biodegradable or suitable for compostable processes are created, using lignocellulosic compounds used in non-industrial environments. doctor. From this, alternatives have been developed such as the production of masks based on cassava starch or with banana peel, among others.

To obtain the filter medium, it begins with the extraction of cellulose from the alkaline hydrolysis at 5% of the cane bagasse fibers, generating the cellulose pulp, from which the percentages of lignin, cellulose, moisture, ash, real and apparent density and porosity using the Klason method, a methodology similar to the Kraft process, gravimetric methodologies.

After the characterization, a factorial system 2 is developed2 referring to additives, that is, glycerin at 20% and 50%, flour 7 grains 10% and 70%, with respect to the weight of the average filter 1.54 ± 0.19 g, being passed through the mixture of these variables in 20 ml of hot water and moistening the filter quickly to avoid tearing and / or rupture, improving flexibility and porosity when a glycerin concentration of 20% is obtained with 70% of flour 7 grains.