Prevention of interfibril hornification by replacing water in nanocellulose gel with low molecular weight liquid poly(ethylene glycol)

Alba Santmarti, Tekla Tammelin, Koon Yang Lee*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Nanocellulose is typically stored and transported as a gel with a nominal solid content of up to 5 wt.-% to avoid interfibril hornification, i.e. the formation of irreversible hydrogen bonds between adjacent nanocellulose upon drying, which makes nanocellulose not cost-effective. In this work, we report the use of low molecular weight liquid poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG-200) as a replacement for the water phase in nanocellulose aqueous gel. Our results indicated that nanocellulose can be stored in PEG-200 at a solid content of up to 70 wt.-% without interfibril hornification, even when exposed to the ambient environment. This is due to the low vapour pressure and high boiling point of PEG-200. ATR-FTIR and ζ-potential measurements confirmed that PEG-200 can be easily washed out from the nanocellulose as PEG-200 is water miscible. Using PEG-200 as a replacement for the water phase in nanocellulose aqueous gel could improve the cost-efficiency of nanocellulose storage and transportation. The tensile properties of the cellulose nanopaper prepared from the various never-dried and once-dried nanocellulose are also discussed in this work.
Original languageEnglish
Article number116870
JournalCarbohydrate Polymers
Volume250
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Dec 2020
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

The authors would like to thank the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/N026489/1) for funding this work. We would also like to acknowledge the financial support from the Department of Aeronautics Imperial College London for funding AS. This work was a part of the Academy of Finland's Flagship Programme under Projects No. 318890 and 318891 (Competence Centre for Materials Bioeconomy, FinnCERES).

Keywords

  • Dehydration
  • Drying
  • Fibrillated cellulose
  • Redispersibility
  • Resuspension

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