Revalorization of tidal waste as a sustainable cellulose source

The increase of non-native species in the seas and eutrophication cause accumulation of seaweed and marine plants on coasts that become waste. Marine biomass residues are abandoned or sent to landfills at considerable cost. The aim of this work is to revalue tidal waste as a cellulosic material. Cellulose was isolated using minimal environmental impact (clean) technologies in two stages, first one with sodium hydroxide and anthraquinone, and the second with alkaline hydrogen peroxide. Product were characterized by evaluating the contents on α-cellulose, ash, ethanol-benzene extractives, holocellulose, hot water-soluble compounds and lignin, also, yield was calculated. For identifying the optimal operating conditions, we used response surface methodology (central composite design) which allowed to model the treatment conditions. Under optimal conditions, α-cellulose and holocellulose contents were 87.21% and 54.31% respectively. The hot water-soluble fraction of 30.81% can potentially be refined to obtain value-added compounds, allowing extraction to be adapted to an integrated biorefinery process.