16 Fantastic Floating Weeds and How to Use Them
371
as gasohol. In the USA E10 is popularly used, which is a mixture of ~10% bioethanol
by volume and gasoline. Other countries using bioethanol are India (E5), China (E10),
Thailand (E10), Brazil (E20, E25), Paraguay (E7), Australia (E10), Columbia (E10),
and Peru (E10) (Nair et al. 2007). Masami et al. (2008) saccharified water hyacinth by
H 2 SO 4 to form ethanol with yeast. A total of 624 strains was obtained out of which one
strain was able to produce 22.4 ml of ethanol per kg of dry E. crassipes. Yet, in another
study, Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used for saccharification (enzymatically) of E.
crassipes on top of pre-treatment (alkaline oxidative) for a yield of 0.35 g ethanol per
gram of biomass (Ahn et al. 2012). Guragain et al. (2011) compared various treatment
techniques for wheat straw and water hyacinth for highest yield of bioethanol.
16.2.3.3 For the Extraction of Potassium
Water hyacinth plants have a tremendous ability to absorb nutrients and trace metals
from its environment. Thirteen different treatments were performed on the stems and
leaves of the water hyacinth plant for the study of potassium extraction by Zhou et al.
(2007). The highest rate at which potassium was removed followed by a strong acid
treatment (hydrochloric acid) was found to be 69.7%. The greatest efficient for the
removal of the cations, Mg
2+ and Ca
2+ were at the alkaline pH of ~13 with 88.0% of
potassium present in the infiltrate. The highest removal of potassium was achieved
in precipitated form was obtained after the addition of tartaric acid, which lead to
72.3% removal of potassium from the media. Throughout the whole process, around
44.3% of potassium from the water hyacinth shoot was extracted with the help of
KC 4 H 5 O 6 . This technique represented the ideal application of water hyacinth as a
source of potassium and can be utilized in the production of potassium salts and
other value-added end products from the profoundly noxious aquatic weed.
16.2.3.4 High-Quality Cellulose Nanoparticles and Cellulase
Cellulose is used in a number of fields being a biopolymer and can be also extracted as
nanoparticles, further widening its area of application. Cellulose nanoparticles (CNP)
have low thermal expansion coefficient (10
−7 K
−1 ), lighter density (1.6 g cm
−3 ),
higher Young’s modulus (138 GPa), and an even larger tensile strength making it
one of the most robust biopolymers. These characteristics of CNPs make them an
absolute applicant for innovative implications, e.g., as filtration units/membranes,
nanocomposites, in biomedical field, as adsorbents, coating material, etc. Greener
alternatives for isolation of cellulose nanoparticles are required. Water hyacinth,
because of its appropriate properties, proved to be a good alternative for isolation of
nanoparticles. Luna et al. (2019) isolated CNP from cellulose obtained from water
hyacinth stem by thermochemical, alkaline, and enzymatic treatments. Therefore, if
subjected to proper treatment high-quality CNP can be produced from water hyacinth
stems which can be used in nanopharmaceuticals.
371
as gasohol. In the USA E10 is popularly used, which is a mixture of ~10% bioethanol
by volume and gasoline. Other countries using bioethanol are India (E5), China (E10),
Thailand (E10), Brazil (E20, E25), Paraguay (E7), Australia (E10), Columbia (E10),
and Peru (E10) (Nair et al. 2007). Masami et al. (2008) saccharified water hyacinth by
H 2 SO 4 to form ethanol with yeast. A total of 624 strains was obtained out of which one
strain was able to produce 22.4 ml of ethanol per kg of dry E. crassipes. Yet, in another
study, Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used for saccharification (enzymatically) of E.
crassipes on top of pre-treatment (alkaline oxidative) for a yield of 0.35 g ethanol per
gram of biomass (Ahn et al. 2012). Guragain et al. (2011) compared various treatment
techniques for wheat straw and water hyacinth for highest yield of bioethanol.
16.2.3.3 For the Extraction of Potassium
Water hyacinth plants have a tremendous ability to absorb nutrients and trace metals
from its environment. Thirteen different treatments were performed on the stems and
leaves of the water hyacinth plant for the study of potassium extraction by Zhou et al.
(2007). The highest rate at which potassium was removed followed by a strong acid
treatment (hydrochloric acid) was found to be 69.7%. The greatest efficient for the
removal of the cations, Mg
2+ and Ca
2+ were at the alkaline pH of ~13 with 88.0% of
potassium present in the infiltrate. The highest removal of potassium was achieved
in precipitated form was obtained after the addition of tartaric acid, which lead to
72.3% removal of potassium from the media. Throughout the whole process, around
44.3% of potassium from the water hyacinth shoot was extracted with the help of
KC 4 H 5 O 6 . This technique represented the ideal application of water hyacinth as a
source of potassium and can be utilized in the production of potassium salts and
other value-added end products from the profoundly noxious aquatic weed.
16.2.3.4 High-Quality Cellulose Nanoparticles and Cellulase
Cellulose is used in a number of fields being a biopolymer and can be also extracted as
nanoparticles, further widening its area of application. Cellulose nanoparticles (CNP)
have low thermal expansion coefficient (10
−7 K
−1 ), lighter density (1.6 g cm
−3 ),
higher Young’s modulus (138 GPa), and an even larger tensile strength making it
one of the most robust biopolymers. These characteristics of CNPs make them an
absolute applicant for innovative implications, e.g., as filtration units/membranes,
nanocomposites, in biomedical field, as adsorbents, coating material, etc. Greener
alternatives for isolation of cellulose nanoparticles are required. Water hyacinth,
because of its appropriate properties, proved to be a good alternative for isolation of
nanoparticles. Luna et al. (2019) isolated CNP from cellulose obtained from water
hyacinth stem by thermochemical, alkaline, and enzymatic treatments. Therefore, if
subjected to proper treatment high-quality CNP can be produced from water hyacinth
stems which can be used in nanopharmaceuticals.