Is peroxide bleaching ($\ce{H2O2}$) suitable for treating bast fibres? I read that to be successful, it needs to be combined with chlorine bleaching. Because of the end usage, I don't want to use this kind of bleaching.
1 Answer
Old patents of the 1930s, particularly from I.G. Farben often describe the use of hypochlorite/chlorine in the bleaching of bast.
However, from newer literature, such as this application manual for hydrogen peroxide bleaching from Evonik Industries, I would conclude that bleaching of bast can be performed without chlorine, supposed that the peroxide bleaching is performed
- in alkaline medium
- at elevated temperatures $(85-90\,°\mathrm{C})$