Production and Characterization of Pulp and Nanofibrillated Cellulose from Selected Tropical Plants

ABSTRACT

The goal of this study was to explore the feasibility of production of cellulosic pulp and nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) from prevalent plants in west and central Africa; raffia fiber (Raphia vinifera), cassava bagasse (Manihot esculenta) and ambarella (Spondias dulcis); in order to assess their suitability as source of reinforcing elements for composite. Fibers were produced using both organosolv and basic soda methods to evaluate the effect of processing on fiber properties. The morphological characterization showed pulp fibers of width 24–33 µm and length 0.2–1.1 mm while nanofibers of width 110–278 nm were obtained after nanofibrillation. FTIR confirmed that the isolation processes effectively removed amorphous content (lignin and hemicellulose) while X-ray Diffraction analysis demonstrated the increase in crystallinity when fibers were processed from pulp to nanofibrillated cellulose. Despite being fibrous in nature, ambarella did not respond to soda and organosolv pulping possibly due to high wax (18.87%) and ash (16.05%) content. The yield of raffia pulp is within the range found in conventional wood sources. The nanosize nature, high specific surface area and aspect ratio, biodegradability and renewability of nanofibrillated cellulose have demonstrated the potential of raffia fibers and cassava bagasse as suitable sources for micro/nanocellulose.

摘要

本研究的目的是探索从西非和中非的流行植物中生产纤维素纸浆和纳米纤维化纤维素（NFC）的可行性，这些植物包括: 拉斐亚纤维（Raphia vinifera）、木薯蔗渣（Manihot esculenta）和ambarella（Spondia dulcis）;以评估它们作为增强元素来源的适用性混合成的. 采用有机溶剂法和碱法生产纤维，以评估加工工艺对纤维性能的影响. 形态特征表明，纸浆纤维的宽度为24-33µm，长度为0.2-1.1 mm，而纳米纤维的宽度为110-278nm. FTIR证实分离过程有效地去除了无定形成分（木质素和半纤维素），而X射线衍射分析表明，当纤维从纸浆加工成纳米纤维时，结晶度增加. 尽管ambarella是纤维状的，但它对苏打和有机溶剂制浆没有反应，可能是因为蜡（18.87%）和灰分（16.05%）含量高. 蔗渣浆的产量在传统木材来源的范围内。纳米纤维化纤维素的纳米化性质、高比表面积和高比表面积、可生物降解性和可再生性，显示了树胶纤维和木薯蔗渣作为微/纳米纤维素的合适来源的潜力.

KEYWORDS:

• Raffia fiber
• cassava bagasse
• ambarella
• nanofibrillated cellulose
• soda pulp and organosolv pulp

关键词:

• 蔗渣纤维
• 木薯蔗渣
• 纳米纤维纤维素
• 苏打浆和有机溶剂浆

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Pan African Materials Institute (PAMI) under the World Bank African Centres of Excellence Program [Grant No. AUST/PAMI/2015 5415-NG] and the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico: [PQ CNPq 307723/2017-8/].