Chemical Structure And Glass Transition Temperature Of Ricinodendron Heudelotii Wood For Its Pulp Production Potential

The chemical structure and glass transition temperature of Ricinodendron heudelotii wood were studied using Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared FTIR spectroscopy and dynamic mechanical analysis DMA respectively. The thermal characteristic of R. heudelotii was conducted on N-methyl-2-pyrolidone saturated specimens while submerged under the same solvent at a temperature range from 130 to 0C at 3Cmin multi-frequencies of 0.1-10 Hz using DMA. Ratios of syringyl to guaiacyl associated bands along the longitudinal and radial positions of the wood differ significantly. Higher syringylguaiacyl ratio of the corewood than middlewood correlate well with lowering softening temperature. The findings in this research reveals that more chemical would be required to pulp R. heudelotii wood obtained from the base 10 of the merchantable height and outerwood because of the presence of high lignin content compared to the other longitudinal and radial positions respectively where wood were collected. Also outerwood favour pulp production compared to middlewood and corewood because of the high holocellulose content.