Dried Bamboo Leaves as an Alternative Source of Paper free essay sample

Bamboo plants are identified as species of subfamily Bambusoideae, family Gramineae. They are distributed in many parts of the world. There are more than 1200 species of 50 genera of bamboo. There is approximate 22 million ha bamboo forest area worldwide that can be divided into three big divisions e. g. Asia and Pacific, America and Africa. China, India, Southeastern Asian nations, some of nations of Africa and Latin America are rich in bamboo resource (Zhou 1998). Among them, China is richest of bamboo forest because of locating at the center region of bamboo distribution. In China, there are approximate 400 species of 35 genera of bamboo, which is one third of total species in the world. Bamboo is a woody perennial evergreen plant that is actually part of the true grass family. Although they can grow to towering heights, bamboo is not actually considered a tree. Bamboo belongs to the family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. We will write a custom essay sample on Dried Bamboo Leaves as an Alternative Source of Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Bamboo along with being one of the tallest grasses in the world is also the fastest growing plant in the world, capable of growing 3 to 4 feet per day. Bamboo can be found all over the world in varied climates, from the cold mountainous regions to the hot tropical areas. They can be found in North and South America, throughout East Asia, northern Australia, and southern Africa. Bamboo is a huge business worldwide, and provides shelter, utensils, furniture, and food for some 2. 2 billion people. Bamboo has some amazing properties that have been manipulated by mankind over the ages. Bamboo is used in functions from reinforcement of concrete buildings in place of steel rebar, to meals for millions of people in the orient. Although mature bamboo has tensile strength greater than mild steel, its shoots are tender enough for human consumption. Bamboo is used in scaffolding architecture for high rise buildings across the Far East, and is used to make strong light plywood boards that are used in every construction application you could imagine. Bamboo can be used to cook in, eat off of, eat, sit on, walk on, ride on, and live under. Bamboo fiber is a cellulose fiber extracted or fabricated from natural and is made from the pulp of bamboo plants. It is usually not ade from the fibers of the plant, but is a synthetic viscose made from bamboo cellulose. (In the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has ruled that unless a yarn is made directly with bamboo fiber — often called â€Å"mechanically processed bamboo† — it must be called rayon or rayon made from bamboo. Bamboo has gained popularity as a green fiber. Manufacturers tout the fact that bamboo can be cultivated quickly, can be used as a cash crop to develop impoverished regions of the third world, and is a natural whose cultivation results in a decrease in greenhouse gases. At present, prices of commodities are getting higher like paper which is used by students in school every day. The researchers think that bamboo leaf’ fiber can be an alternative source of paper so they come up of this investigatory project. With this study, the researchers can learn that bamboo plant cannot only used in providing shelter, utensils, furniture, and food but can also be used in making alternative paper. Since our world today has so many consumers of paper, the researchers thought of making paper out of bamboo fibers. The community will have a discovery of the many uses of bamboo plant and gain more knowledge and creativity on its uses and what they can make out of it. If this investigatory project would be successful, it will be a great help not only to student but also to all consumers of paper. Statement of the Problem This research study seeks to answer the following: 1. Can bamboo leaf’ fibers can be used as an alternative in making paper? 2. Will it be acceptable in the market if dried bamboo leaves are used as an ingredient in producing alternative paper? 3. What will be the texture and cost value of the produced bamboo paper in the market? Formulation of Hypothesis . Dried bamboo leaf’ fiber is a good alternative in making paper. 1. Dried bamboo leaf’ fiber is not a good alternative in making paper. 2. Bamboo paper will be accepted in the market. 2. Bamboo paper will not be accepted in the market. 3. The texture of the bamboo paper is tough and cheaper in price other than any brand of paper in the market. 3. The texture of the bamboo paper is not tough and expensive in price other than any brand of paper in the market. Scope and Delimitation Review of Related Literature Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. In bamboo, the internodal regions of the stem are hollow and the vascular bundles in the cross section are scattered throughout the stem instead of in a cylindrical arrangement. The dicotyledonous woody xylem is also absent. The absence of secondary growth wood causes the stems of monocots, even of palms and large bamboos, to be columnar rather than tapering. Bamboos are some of the fastest growing plants in the world, due to a unique rhizome-dependent system. Bamboos are of notable economic and cultural significance in South Asia, South East Asia and East Asia, being used for building materials, as a food source, and as a versatile raw product. More than 70 genera are divided into about 1,450 species. Bamboo species are found in diverse climates, from cold mountains to hot tropical regions. They occur across East Asia, from 50 °N latitude in Sakhalin through to Northern Australia, and west to India and the Himalayas. They also occur in sub-Saharan Africa, and in the Americas from the Mid-Atlantic United States south to Argentina and Chile, reaching their southernmost point anywhere, at 47 °S latitude. Continental Europe is not known to have any native species of bamboo. There have recently been some attempts to grow bamboo on a commercial basis in the Great Lakes region of eastern-central Africa, especially in Rwanda. Companies in the United States are growing, harvesting and distributing species such as Henon and Moso. Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants on Earth with reported growth rates of 100 cm (39 in) in 24 hours. 2] However, the growth rate is dependent on local soil and climatic conditions as well as species, and a more typical growth rate for many commonly cultivated bamboos in temperate climates is in the range of 3–10 cm (1–4 inches) per day during the growing period. Primarily growing in regions of warmer climates during the late Cretaceous period, vast fields existed in what is now Asia. Some of the largest timber bamboo can grow over 30 meters (98 ft) tall, and be as large as 15–20 cm (6–8 inches) in diameter. However, the size range for mature bamboo is species dependent, with the smallest bamboos reaching only several inches high at maturity. A typical height range that would cover many of the common bamboos grown in the United States is 15–40 feet, depending on species. Unlike trees, individual bamboo stems, or culms, emerge from the ground at their full diameter and grow to their full height in a single growing season of 3–4 months. During these several months, each new shoot grows vertically into a culm with no branching out until the majority of the mature height is reached. Then the branches extend from the nodes and leafing out occurs. In the next year, the pulpy wall of each culm slowly hardens. During the third year, the culm hardens further. The shoot is now considered a fully mature culm. Over the next 2–5 years (depending on species), fungus and mold begin to form on the outside of the culm, which eventually penetrate and overcome the culm. Around 5 – 8 years later (species and climate dependent), the fungal and mold growth cause the culm to collapse and decay. This brief life means culms are ready for harvest and suitable for use in construction within about 3 – 7 years. Individual bamboo culms do not get any taller or larger in diameter in subsequent years than they do in their first year, and they do not replace any growth that is lost from pruning or natural breakage. Bamboos have a wide range of hardiness depending on species and locale. Small or young specimens of an individual species will produce small culms initially. As the clump and its rhizome system matures, taller and larger culms will be produced each year until the plant approaches its particular species limits of height and diameter. Many tropical bamboo species will die at or near freezing temperatures, while some of the hardier or so-called temperate bamboos can survive temperatures as low as ? 29  °C (? 20  °F). Some of the hardiest bamboo species can be grown in places as cold as USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 5–6, although they typically will defoliate and may even lose all above-ground growth; yet the rhizomes will survive and send up shoots again the next spring. In milder climates, such as USDA Zone 8 and above, some hardy bamboo may remain fully leafed out year around. While bamboo grows everywhere in the world except those places with extremely cold climates, it is thought to have originated in China, where the first use of bamboo to make every day items was recorded. This tall, hearty grass (yep, bamboo is technically grass) was used for as many products as they could manage, as it was a quickly renewable resource. The species of bamboo that we know today evolved from prehistoric grasses between thirty and forty million years ago, long after the extinction of the dinosaurs. It then became the major food source for herbivorous animals, eventually becoming a food source for the modern human being as well. Major bamboo research didn’t begin until 1920, when the history of the plant was studied. It has shown that there are native species of bamboo almost everywhere, including the United States. It is now used widely in landscaping, but bamboo grows in two styles, clumping and running, which make it a widespread plant that can easily take over a garden if not cared for properly. While bamboo was used frequently in the eastern hemisphere for housing for centuries, it is now only becoming popular in the western part of the world. More and more architects are seeing the beauty and intelligence in using bamboo for structures and other building material, and are becoming famous from the use of it in buildings. Bamboo has a long history of use in Asian furniture. Chinese bamboo furniture is a distinct style based on millennia-long tradition. Several manufacturers offer bamboo bicycles and skateboards. Due to its flexibility bamboo is also used to make fishing rods. The split cane rod is especially prized for fly fishing. Bamboo has been traditionally used in Malaysia as a firecracker called a meriam buluh or bamboo cannon. Four-foot long sections of bamboo are cut, and a mixture of water and calcium carbide are introduced. The resulting acetylene gas is ignited with a stick producing a loud bang. Bamboo can be used in water desalination. A bamboo filter is used to remove the salt from seawater. Chemical composition of bamboo The macrostructure of bamboo stem is similar to many species of grass family with distinct nodes and internodes. Analyzing chemical components of bamboo shows the bamboo is mainly composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, carbohydrates, fat and protein, etc. The cell wall mainly consists of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin (Chen 1984). The cellulose of bamboo is a natural linear macromolecular compound which is jointed with ? -D-glucose? 4 glycocidic. The cellulose content in bamboo varies from 40% to 50% with different species. Hemicellulose is a kind of non-cellulose polysaccharide, inhomogeneous high polymeric glycan, which consists of two glycosyl or more in the cell wall and the intercellular layer. It has a branch structure. The hemicelluloses’ content is in the range of 20% to 30%. Lignin is an aromatic macromolecular compound together with cellulose and hemicellulose in lignified tissue, and it is concentrated in intercellular layers. In the lignified tissue, the lignin is mainly to stick the cellulose and hemicellulose and its content ranges from 15% to 35%. The materials such as carbohydrate, fat, protein and nitride etc can be extracted from bamboo. The cold-water extractive is 3. 92%, and the hot-water extractive is 7. 72%. The alcohol-ether extractive is 4. 55%, and the alcohol-benzene extractive is 5. 45%. The extractive with 1% sodium hydroxide is 27. 26%, Bamboo material can be burned to ash in high temperature. The ash content is in the range of 1% to 2%. The compounds of the ash exist in following forms: Potassium exists as potassium oxide which is in the range of 0. % to 2%; Silicon exists as silica is about 1. 3%; Phosphate exists as phosphorus pentoxide and is the range of 0. 11%~0. 24%. Besides these compounds, there are some metallic elements with little content such as copper, iron, calcium, magnesium and manganese. Compared with the chemical composition of wood and grass plant, the cellulose content of bamboo is higher than grass plant, less than hardwood, and similar to softwood. The lignin content of bamboo is between softwood and hardwood but higher than grass. The ash content in bamboo is 3 to 4 times more than wood but far less than grass (Ye et al 1989). Bamboo Fiber Bamboo fiber is an extracted or fabricated from natural bamboo the pulp of bamboo plants. It is usually not made from the fibers of the plant, but is a synthetic viscose made from bamboo cellulose. (In the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has ruled that unless a yarn is made directly with bamboo fiber — often called â€Å"mechanically processed bamboo† — it must be called rayon or rayon made from bamboo. Bamboo has gained popularity as a green fiber. Manufacturers tout the fact that bamboo can be cultivated quickly, can be used as a cash crop to develop impoverished regions of the third world, and is a natural fiber (as opposed to popular synthetics like polyester) whose cultivation results in a decrease in greenhouse gases. There may be environmental problems with the cultivation of land expressly for bamboo and the use of harsh chemicals to turn bamboo into usable fiber for clothing. Bamboo composite and biopolymer construction There are various approaches to the use of bamboo in composites and as an additive in biopolymers for construction. In this case (as opposed to bamboo fabrics for clothing) bamboo fibers are extracted through mechanical needling and scraping or through a steam explosion process where bamboo is injected with steam and placed under pressure and then exposed to the atmosphere where small explosions within the bamboo due to steam release allows for the collection of bamboo fiber. Bamboo fiber can be in a pulped form in which the material is extremely fine and in a powdered state. Methodology Raw Materials †¢500 grams of dried bamboo leaves †¢50 grams chlorine †¢100 grams caustic soda aka Lye Other Materials: †¢mold and deckle †¢silk screen †¢cloth or net bag †¢mortar and pestle Procedures I. Preparation of materials The hard part of the dried bamboo leaves is removed. Then wash the dried leaves of bamboo. The materials are first prepared before the experiment. II. Boiling of the dried bamboo leaves The dried leaves of bamboo are boiled in caustic soda and water for 2-3 hours. When it is already cooked, wash thoroughly the dried bamboo leaves to remove chemicals until the fibers are left. III. Molding and drying of the pulp The bamboo fibers can now be molded. Using the mold and deckle, the fiber mixed with water was molded. To dry it, place it on an even wall or screen to let it dry. When the pulp is already dry, strip off the paper from the screen.