Influence of alkaline delignification on moisture uptake behavior and bonding enthalpies of hemp

Raw hemp fibers are alkaline delignified to evaluate the effect of lignin on the moisture uptake behavior of hemp. Samples are subjected to moisture absorption/desorption isotherms from 5% to 95% relative humidity at three different temperatures (15, 25, and 35°C). The sorption ratio between delignified and untreated hemp is lowered by 25%. Hysteresis makes evident the greater influence of lignin on moisture binding at low relative humidity while at high relative humidity, cellulose plays the most important role. The GAB, Hailwood‐Horrobin and Dent models are fitted to absorption/desorption isotherms. Delignification and temperature decrease the size of the monolayer. The energy constants of the monolayer differ according to the model used. Lignin causes great differences between absorption and desorption. The greater the temperature is, the lower the monolayer energy constant. The energy constants of the multilayer are identical for the three models, showing a greater range of variation in delignified samples than in the untreated samples. Based on primary and secondary energy constants, bonding enthalpies are determined. Estimations in desorption show higher correlation coefficients with the energy constants, which enables to conclude that measures in desorption better explain the effect of delignification on the water uptake behavior of hemp.