The large-scale and multilevel application
of renewable
cellulose
resources is one of important strategies for the sustainable development
of human society. However, thermal drying is usually an inevitable
procedure during utilization of cellulose fibers and it leads to hornification
of cellulose fibers, which seriously hinders their further development.
A typical feature of hornification is the irreversible shrinkage of
cellulose fibers, including shrinkage of the cell lumen, cell wall,
and pores on it. These macroscopic structural changes originate from
the recrystallization of cellulose molecules caused by forced dehydration
during processing. Here, an easy NaOH-urea treatment method to reverse
the hornification of hornified cellulose fibers (HCFs) was proposed.
The cell lumen, cell wall, and pores of HCFs were restored, and the
hydroxyl groups were released inside and on the surface of the fibers;
the water retention value (WRV) was relatively increased by 41.8%,
and the hornification was reversed by 79%. The drying-induced crystallization
and cocrystallization of amorphous cellulose were disrupted, which
proved that NaOH-urea treatment can realize a procedural hornification
reversal. Finally, the promotion of NaOH-urea treatment on the application
of HCFs was verified and explained. This paper will make an important
contribution to the reversible characteristic regulation, multiple
utilization, efficient recycling, and reuse of cellulose materials.
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