Yousefi Neptun, Hannonen Jenna, Fliri Lukas, Peljo Pekka, Kontturi Eero
Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems, Aalto University, P.O. Box 16300, 00076 Aalto, Finland.
Battery Materials and Technologies, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turun yliopisto, Finland.
Nano Lett. 2024 Nov 20;24(46):14610-14614. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c02918. Epub 2024 Nov 6.
Due to their exceptional properties, cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have been proposed for various applications in sustainable materials science. However, state-of-the-art production methods suffer from low yields and rely on hazardous and environmentally harmful chemicals, representing a bottleneck for more widespread utilization of CNCs. In this study, we present a novel two-step approach that combines previously established HCl gas hydrolysis with electrochemical TEMPO oxidation. This unique method allows the collection of easily dispersible CNCs with high carboxylate contents in excellent overall yields of 71%. The electromediated oxidation was conducted in aqueous conditions without the usually required cocatalysts, simplifying the purification of the materials. Moreover, the proposed process is designed for facile recycling of the used reagents in both steps. To evaluate the sustainability and scalability, the environmental impact factor was calculated, and a cost analysis was conducted.
由于其优异的性能，纤维素纳米晶体（CNCs）已被提议用于可持续材料科学的各种应用中。然而，目前的生产方法产量低，且依赖于危险和对环境有害的化学品，这是CNCs更广泛应用的一个瓶颈。在本研究中，我们提出了一种新颖的两步法，该方法将先前建立的HCl气体水解与电化学TEMPO氧化相结合。这种独特的方法能够以71%的优异总产率收集具有高羧酸盐含量且易于分散的CNCs。电介导氧化在水性条件下进行，无需通常所需的助催化剂，简化了材料的纯化过程。此外，所提出的工艺设计用于在两个步骤中方便地回收使用过的试剂。为了评估可持续性和可扩展性，计算了环境影响因子并进行了成本分析。
