Abstract
This study investigates a fast dissolution and regeneration pretreatment to produce regenerated cellulose nanofibers (RCNFs) via mechanical disintegration. Two cellulose pulps, namely, birch and dissolving pulps, with degree of polymerizations of 1800 and 3600, respectively, were rapidly dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) by using tetraethylammonium hydroxide (TEAOH) as aqueous electrolyte at room temperature. When TEAOH (35 wt % in water) was added to the pulp–DMSO dispersion (pulp:DMSO and TEAOH:DMSO weight ratios of 1:90 and 1:9, respectively), 95% of the dissolving pulp and 85% of the birch pulp fibers dissolved almost immediately. Addition of water caused the regeneration of cellulose without any chemical modification and only a minor decrease of DP, whereas the crystallinity structure of cellulose transformed from cellulose I to cellulose II. The regenerated cellulose could then be mechanically disintegrated into nanosized fibers with only a few passes through a microfluidizer, and RCNF showed fibrous structure. The specific tensile strength of the film produced from both RCNFs exceeded 100 kN·m/kg, and overall mechanical properties of RCNF produced from birch pulp were in line with reference CNF produced by using extensive mechanical disintegration. Although the thermal stability of RCNFs was slightly lower compared to their corresponding original cellulose pulp, the onset temperature of degradation of RCNFs was over 270 °C.
Highlights
Derived materials and chemicals are currently recognized as sustainable alternative to the oil-based products used in everyday life.[1]
We investigated the production of regenerated cellulose nanofibers (RCNFs) using novel solvent systems based on dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), which can dissolve cellulose rapidly in room temperature
It was shown that cellulose pulps can be rapidly dissolved in DMSO by adding aqueous tetraethylammonium hydroxide (TEAOH)
Summary
Derived materials and chemicals are currently recognized as sustainable alternative to the oil-based products used in everyday life.[1] Despite many advantages of oil-based materials, such as plastics, their environmental friendliness is compromised due to the nonrenewability of their raw material, poor biodegradability, and toxicity. The sustainable use of naturally occurring components, such as cellulose,[2,3] hemicelluloses,[4,5] lignin,[6,7] and starch,[8,9] among others,[10−12] in place of plastic could overcome the above-mentioned shortcomings. Cellulose is the most abundant natural polymer and is widely available in nonedible plants.[13] cellulose is among the most relevant raw materials in plastic replacements as well as a starting point for a wide variety of novel products. The advantages of nanocellulose films compared with plastics are their very high mechanical strength and oxygen barrier properties, especially at moderate humidity.[15]
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