School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
Carbohydr Polym. 2022 Nov 1;295:119857. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.119857. Epub 2022 Jul 12.
Cellulose nanofibrils are typically prepared from high-purity bleached pulp through harsh chemical treatments (e.g., TEMPO oxidation), resulting in high costs and environmental impact. In this work, we utilize inexpensive wheat straw feedstock and alkaline peroxide pulping followed by mild peracetic acid (PAA) pretreatment to produce lignocellulosic nanomaterials (nano and microfibrils) with potential bioplastics applications. PAA was chosen due to its biodegradability, non-toxicity, and high reaction selectivity. As-synthesized lignocellulosic nanomaterials were thoroughly characterized and compared to nanofibrils produced via TEMPO oxidation pretreatment and then applied as reinforcing agents in plastic composites. A remarkable case of simultaneous strengthening and toughening of the polymer nanocomposite was achieved with high specific tensile strength (up to 59.5 MPa g cm), elastic modulus (up to 2.6 GPa g cm), and fracture strain (up to 138 %). This work is a comprehensive investigation of all process steps involved in lignocellulosic nanomaterials production, from original residue feedstock to final product application.
纤维素纳米纤维通常通过苛刻的化学处理（例如，TEMPO 氧化）从高纯度漂白浆中制备，这导致成本高和环境影响大。在这项工作中，我们利用廉价的麦草原料和碱性过氧化物制浆，然后进行温和的过氧乙酸（PAA）预处理，以生产具有潜在生物塑料应用的木质纤维素纳米材料（纳米和微纤维）。选择 PAA 是因为它具有生物降解性、无毒性和高反应选择性。合成的木质纤维素纳米材料经过彻底的表征，并与通过 TEMPO 氧化预处理生产的纳米纤维进行了比较，然后将其用作塑料复合材料的增强剂。在聚合物纳米复合材料中实现了同时增强和增韧的显著情况，具有高比拉伸强度（高达 59.5 MPa g cm）、弹性模量（高达 2.6 GPa g cm）和断裂应变（高达 138%）。这项工作全面研究了木质纤维素纳米材料生产的所有工艺步骤，从原始残余原料到最终产品应用。
