Lignocellulosic micro/nanofibers from wood sawdust applied to recycled fibers for the production of paper bags.

In the present work, lignocellulosic micro/nanofibers (LCMNF) were produced from pine sawdust. For that, pine sawdust was submitted to alkali treatment and subsequent bleaching stages, tailoring its chemical composition with the purpose of obtaining effective LCMNF. The obtained LCMNF were characterized and incorporated to recycled cardboard boxes with the purpose of producing recycled paper. The obtained results showed that it was possible to obtain LCMNF with the same reinforcing potential than those cellulose nanofibers (CNF) prepared by oxidative or other chemical methods In fact, the obtained papers increased the breaking length of recycled cardboard from 3338m to 5347m, being a value significantly higher than the requirements to produce paper bags. Overall, the studied strategies could allow a significant reduction of paper basis weight, with the consequent material saving and, thus, contribution to the environment.