Low-energy preparation of cellulose nanofibers from sugarcane bagasse by modulating the surface charge density

• Published in: Carbohydrate polymers Vol. 218; pp. 145 - 153
• Main Authors: Pinto, Lidiane O., Bernardes, Juliana S., Rezende, Camila A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 15.08.2019
• Subjects: Cellulose nanocrystals; Cellulose nanofibers; Eucalyptus chips; Sugarcane bagasse; TEMPO-mediated oxidation; TEMPO-mediated oxidation; Eucalyptus chips; Cellulose nanocrystals; Cellulose nanofibers; Sugarcane bagasse
• ISSN: 0144-8617; 1879-1344
• DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.04.070

[Display omitted] •A new pathway for sustainable CNF isolation from sugarcane bagasse was developed.•Addition of negative charges and lignin removal contribute to fibrillation.•Sonication of highly charged CNF results in CNC with high mass recovery. In this work, cellulose nanofibers (CNF) were obtained from sugarcane bagasse (SC) without high-energy mechanical treatments, using TEMPO-mediated oxidation. Variable NaClO concentrations were used to impart electrostatic repulsion between surface charged groups thus facilitating fibril separation. CNFs with diameters in the 3–5 nm range were obtained by oxidation of SC pulp with NaClO at 25 and 50 mmol/g. After a 30 min –sonication step, these CNFs were broken down into cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) by mechanical action. Both CNF and CNC preparation by this method are possible in SC due to its particular cell wall morphology and were not achieved in eucalyptus biomass, which is more recalcitrant. This work provided thus a new pathway to modulate the final morphology of cellulose particles by combining a low recalcitrant raw material with different surface charge densities.