Pulping Processes and Their Effects on Cellulose Fibers and Nanofibrillated Cellulose Properties: A Review

Abstract

Abstract Although pulping processes from wood are well-cemented technology, the emergence of bio-based nanotechnology, as well as the increase in concern about the environmental impact that these processes can have, calls for a reevaluation of the impacts that the traditional pulping methods have on the surfaces of the fibers and how variances will then affect the generation and properties of the nanocellulose materials, that will then impact the different applications that can be derived from them. Since literature tends to focus on one method and then characterize it, the aim of this review is to discuss the properties that have been reported of different fibers and nanofibers depending on the wood source, the chemical pulping method selected (kraft or sulfite methods), and the bleaching or lack of it and then compare the effects that these can have in properties such as crystallinity, chemical composition, surface charge, and functional groups present on the surface.