Sustainable production process of mechanically prepared nanocellulose from hardwood and softwood: A comparative investigation of refining energy consumption at laboratory and pilot scale

Kargupta, Wriju; Seifert, Reanna; Martinez, Mark; Olson, James A.; Tanner, Joanne; Batchelor, Warren

doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2021.113868

Cited by 30 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…It has been reported in other investigations that cellulose can be transformed on a nanometric scale to obtain nanocellulose, as cellulose nanofibers (CNF) or cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) [12]. The sources that have been reported for obtaining nanocellulose are very varied; they can be hardwoods [13,14], softwoods [15], non-timber plants [16], agro-industrial waste [17,18], among others. The methods for obtaining nanocellulose are also varied, the most common to obtain CNC are the chemical processes of acid hydrolysis, and to obtain CNF is the mechanical process of microfluidization [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cellulose Nanofibers as Functional Biomaterial from Pineapple Stubbles via TEMPO Oxidation and Mechanical Process

Araya-Chavarría

Rojas

Ramírez-Amador

et al. 2021

Waste Biomass Valor

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The pineapple fruit when harvested generates a large amount of residual biomass; this biomass can be used to generate value-added products such as cellulose nanofibers. This study was focused on the isolation of CNF from pineapple leaves after oxidation pretreatment with 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpireridine-1-oxyl, followed by mechanical deconstruction of the fibers via combination of grinding and microfluidization process. One and two microfluidization passes were applied to bleached and unbleached fibers, respectively. The implications of these findings are that during the production process it is possible to reduce the amount of chemicals needed for bleaching and the energy involved in the mechanical microfluidization process. Such process yielded corresponding fibril lengths and widths in the range of 481–746 nm and 16–48 nm. The respective electrostatic charges, as measured by zeta potentials, were −41 mV and −31 mV. As expected, the CNF crystallinity was higher than that of the starting material, especially for the cellulose. However, the thermal stability was reduced, showing two degradative processes due to the chemical modification of the fibers. The CNF produced from pineapple leaves has a potential to be used like biomaterial in diverse applications while representing a viable alternative to producers, which face serious environmental and health challenges given the large volume of biomass that is otherwise left in the fields as waste. Graphic Abstract

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This will help to reduce the steps through the microfluidizer and, therefore, the energy consumption of the mechanical processes will be reduced. The high electrical energy consumption typical of mechanical nanocellulose production is a significant drawback, from the point of view of both environmental impact and production cost [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cellulose Nanofibers as Functional Biomaterial from Pineapple Stubbles via TEMPO Oxidation and Mechanical Process

Araya-Chavarría

Rojas

Ramírez-Amador

et al. 2021

Waste Biomass Valor

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“…Although, the authors estimate that the procurement costs of softwood pulp, recycled newspaper, and wheat straw were €700, €150, and €400, respectively. Kargupta et al (2021) investigated the energy consumption and mechanical performance of three different wood feedstock for the production of nanopaper handsheets using PFI milling and disc refining as the central mechanical treatment process (Kargupta et al 2021). While results presented within the article indicate that these processes are sustainable methods for the production of CNF, a couple of caveats must be considered.…”

Section: Following Principal Component Analysis and Hierarchical Clus...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Benchmarking the Production of Cellulose Nanofibres: Biomass Feedstock, Mechanical Processing, and Nanopaper Performance

Pennells

Chaleat

Martin

2022

Preprint

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Lignocellulosic biomass plays a vital role in the global shift away from the utilisation of non-renewable petrochemical resources. An emerging class of biomass-derived material is nanocellulose, which are typically generated from the deconstruction of cellulose bundles within the cell wall of terrestrial and aquatic plants, either in the form of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) or cellulose nanofibres (CNFs). However, the utilisation of biomass has an inherent challenge associated with product variability, both in terms of the starting feedstock properties, the wide range of processing routes available to generate nanocellulose, and the fabrication of nanocellulose into a diverse range of different product formats. As a result, it is very difficult to accurately characterise and benchmark the wide variety of nanocellulose materials described within the literature. To address this challenge, this study presents a threefold benchmarking assessment of CNF material, including: (1) CNF generated from different biomass sources, including sorghum (leaf, sheath, upper stem, lower stem), banana (leaf, stem), sugarcane (mulch, bagasse), spinifex (leaf), and softwood (stem); (2) CNF generated through different mechanical processing methods, including Silverson mixing, twin screw extrusion, high energy bead milling, and high pressure homogenisation; and (3) CNF-derived nanopaper mechanical performance described within the literature and the specific energy consumption required to generate this material. The biomass benchmarking study highlighted sorghum and banana stem as the most sustainable biomass feedstock, while the mechanical process benchmarking study highlighted twin-screw extrusion as a promising low energy consumption fibrillation method. Lastly, the nanopaper benchmarking study aided in the visualisation of the nanopaper research landscape. Sample benchmarking in this manner helps to provide greater insight into the mechanisms driving nanocellulose material performance and processing sustainability.

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“…The unrefined fibers were imaged at a lower magnification of 200 ×–500 ×, and refined fibers were imaged at higher magnification of 50,000 ×. The image pixels were then calibrated with a length scale using Image J software, and the diameter of around 200 observable fibers were measured manually (Figs S2, S3) (Kargupta et al 2021b ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preparation and benchmarking of novel cellulose nanopaper

et al. 2022

Self Cite

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Synthetic polymers and plastics which are currently used as barrier materials in packaging applications are neither renewable nor biodegradable. Nanopaper, which is obtained by breaking down cellulose fibers into nanoscale particles, have unique properties with the potential to replace synthetic packaging materials, but requires very high energy to mechanically process the fibers into nanopaper. This research investigates whether refining alone can be used to produce nanopaper with sufficient quality for packaging applications. Nanopaper was produced from Bleached Eucalyptus Kraft (BEK) refined with a PFI mill and from Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft (NBSK) refined in a pilot disc refiner. Both trials found a plateau for oxygen permeability and water vapour permeability that was reached after 1800 kWh/t and 12,000 kWh/t for refining in the pilot disc refiner and PFI mill, respectively. Refining beyond these optima produced either little or no reduction in permeability, while increasing the drainage time to form a sheet. However, elastic modulus, strain at break and sheet light transmittance did continue to increase. The plateau oxygen permeability of ~ 1.24 (cc µm)/(m2 day kPa) is 1–3 orders of magnitude lower than the oxygen permeability for PET and LDPE, respectively, while the plateau water vapour permeability ~ 3 × 10–11 g/m.s. Pa was 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than for PET and LDPE. The improved strength and barrier properties of nanopaper achieved at lab and pilot scale mechanical refining process promises a sustainable alternative to conventional packaging. Graphical abstract

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Sustainable production process of mechanically prepared nanocellulose from hardwood and softwood: A comparative investigation of refining energy consumption at laboratory and pilot scale

Cited by 30 publications

References 46 publications

Cellulose Nanofibers as Functional Biomaterial from Pineapple Stubbles via TEMPO Oxidation and Mechanical Process

Cellulose Nanofibers as Functional Biomaterial from Pineapple Stubbles via TEMPO Oxidation and Mechanical Process

Benchmarking the Production of Cellulose Nanofibres: Biomass Feedstock, Mechanical Processing, and Nanopaper Performance

Preparation and benchmarking of novel cellulose nanopaper

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