Abstract

Motivated by the negative impact of fossil fuel consumption on the environment, the need arises to produce materials and energy from renewable sources. Cellulose, the main biopolymer on Earth, plays a key role in this context, serving as a platform for the development of biofuels, chemicals and novel materials. Among the latter, micro- and nanocellulose have been receiving increasing attention in the last few years. Their many attractive properties, i.e., thermal stability, high mechanical resistance, barrier properties, lightweight, optical transparency and ease of chemical modification, allow their use in a wide range of applications, such as paper or polymer reinforcement, packaging, construction, membranes, bioplastics, bioengineering, optics and electronics. In view of the increasing demand for traditional wood pulp (e.g., obtained from eucalypt, birch, pine, spruce) for micro/nanocellulose production, dedicated crops and agricultural residues can be interesting as raw materials for this purpose. This work aims at achieving microfibrillated cellulose production from fast-growing poplar and olive tree pruning using physical pretreatment (PFI refining) before the microfibrillation stage. Both raw materials yielded microfibrillated cellulose with similar properties to that obtained from a commercial industrial eucalypt pulp, producing films with high mechanical properties and low wettability. According to these properties, different applications for cellulose microfibers suspensions and films are discussed.

Highlights

  • The social and environmental challenges resulting from the widespread consumption of fossil fuels are driving research efforts to solve the current societal problems

  • Cellulose is the most abundant natural polymer on Earth, where it exists as a structural component in the cell walls of plants and some marine animals, algae and fungi, as well as biofilms produced by bacteria [3]

  • It is a very promising polymer due to its specific properties, i.e., renewably sourced, biodegradable, biocompatible and modified or functionalized, which make cellulose a material with great potential for applications in different technologies and in a wide range of products. This biopolymer is currently used in different industrial sectors such as pulp and Paper, textiles and pharmaceuticals, among others, its structural and chemical versatility opens the door to applications in different industrial sectors [2]

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Summary

Introduction

The social and environmental challenges resulting from the widespread consumption of fossil fuels are driving research efforts to solve the current societal problems. Cellulose is the most abundant natural polymer on Earth, where it exists as a structural component in the cell walls of plants and some marine animals, algae and fungi, as well as biofilms produced by bacteria [3] It is a very promising polymer due to its specific properties, i.e., renewably sourced, biodegradable, biocompatible and modified or functionalized, which make cellulose a material with great potential for applications in different technologies and in a wide range of products. This biopolymer is currently used in different industrial sectors such as pulp and Paper, textiles and pharmaceuticals, among others, its structural and chemical versatility opens the door to applications in different industrial sectors (packaging, construction, separation membranes, bioplastics, bioengineering and optoelectronics) [2]. In order to meet the specific requirements for these new applications, it is necessary to use cellulose at the micro/nano-scale [4], resulting in unique mechanical, optical, barrier, thermal and rheological properties that far exceed those of raw cellulose

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