Cellulose fiber from Tunisian Barbary Fig “Opuntia ficus-indica” for papermaking

In this work, Tunisian Opuntia ficus-indica was used as a raw material for papermaking. Analysis of the chemical composition of this raw material has shown that the extractive substances are relatively high, since their content is in the range of 36, 24, 30 and 9.8 %, in cold and hot water, in a 1 % sodium hydroxide solution and in an ethanol-toluene mixture, respectively. The content of α-cellulose is high (53.6 %) compared to other non-woody plants. The low proportion of lignin (4.8 %) allowed us to propose a very soft delignification process using a soda-hydrogen peroxide process. The yield of the pulp obtained after mechanical defibration was significantly high (80.8 %) compared to other conventional pulping processes. Finally, the laboratory handmade standard sheets prepared have very good structural and mechanical properties. These results demonstrated the suitability of this plant for papermaking applications. In fact, excellent fibers were prepared using very soft cooking conditions and without bleaching treatment, and high-performance papers were made thereof without refining.