Materials produced from plant biomass: part II: evaluation of crystallinity and degradation kinetics of cellulose

• Published in: Materials research (São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil) Vol. 15; no. 3; pp. 421 - 427
• Main Authors: Poletto, Matheus, Pistor, Vinícios, Santana, Ruth Marlene Campomanes, Zattera, Ademir José
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: ABM, ABC, ABPol 01.06.2012; Associação Brasileira de Metalurgia e Materiais (ABM); Associação Brasileira de Cerâmica (ABC); Associação Brasileira de Polímeros (ABPol)
• Subjects: cellulose; crystallinity; ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL; Eucalyptus grandis; FTIR spectroscopy; MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY; METALLURGY & METALLURGICAL ENGINEERING; Pinus taeda; thermal degradation; Pinus taeda; Eucalyptus grandis; crystallinity; thermal degradation; cellulose; FTIR spectroscopy
• ISSN: 1516-1439; 1980-5373; 1980-5373
• DOI: 10.1590/S1516-14392012005000048

In this study Eucalyptus grandis (CEG) and Pinus taeda (CPT) cellulose fibers obtained from kraft and sulfite pulping process, respectively, were characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetry (TGA). The degradation kinetic parameters were determined by TGA using Coats and Redfern method. FTIR results showed that CPT presented a more ordered structure with higher crystallinity than CEG. Thermogravimetric results showed that CPT had a higher thermal stability than CEG. The kinetic results revel that for CEG the degradation mechanism occurs mainly by random nucleation, although phase boundary controlled reactions also occurs while for CPT the degradation process is more related with phase boundary controlled reactions. Results demonstrated that differences between thermal stability and degradation mechanisms might be associated with differences in the cellulose crystalline structure probably caused by different pulping processes used for obtaining the cellulose fibers.