Journal of Natural Fibers (Oct 2022)

Nanofibrillated Cellulose Extracted by Enzymatic Hydrolysis Followed by Mechanical Fibrillation

  • Débora Duarte Ribes,
  • Andrey Pereira Acosta,
  • Darci Alberto Gatto,
  • Evandro Piva,
  • Rafael De Avila Delucis,
  • Rafael Beltrame

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/15440478.2021.1982826
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 19, no. 14
pp. 9363 – 9372

Abstract

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In a comparison with certain one-step processes, enzymatic hydrolysis followed by mechanical defibrillation may avoid the use of nonrenewable resources, mitigate the generation of toxic effluents, and reduce the energy consumption related to a single mechanical process. In the present study, bleached and unbleached hardwood pulps were employed as raw materials for producing nanofibrillated cellulose (CNF) using a two-step process, in which a cellulase enzyme was inoculated to act as a pretreatment for a subsequent grinding process. The obtained CNF reached high crystallinity indexes (above 70%) and high thermal stability (degradation onset temperatures around 200°C). Increases in enzyme concentration yielded decreases in diameter and increases in both thermal stability and crystallinity index. These findings indicated that the enzymatic hydrolysis used as a pretreatment to a further grinding process can allow the production of valuable CNF-based products.

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