Microfibrillated lignocellulose (MFLC) from soda-AQ pulp of Moringa oleifera and Eucalyptus grandis by mechanical fibrillation.

BENITEZ, J.B.; VALLEJOS, M.E.; AREA, M.C.; FELISSIA, F.E.

Espoo

Conferencia; X Iberoamerican Conference on Pulp and Paper Research, CIADICYP; 2016

Aalto University

Pulp andpaper industry has a huge potential to adapt its processes for the productionof micro and nano materials from cellulose. The microfibrillated lignocellulose(MFLC) has aroused great interest because of its potential to modify barrierproperties and strength of various materials in a wide range of industrialapplications. Moringa oleifera is known commercially because of the nutritionalvalue of its seeds, leaves, stems, and flowers for human and animal consumptionand medicinal properties. It is a fast growing species which adapts to a widerange of soils. It is currently cultivated in Paraguay, Brazil, and Boliviabecause of the great interest in their products. Moringa is a lignocellulosicresource from which high-value products can be obtained by applying processesbased on the concept of forest biorefinery. The aim of this work was to obtainMFLC from a soda-AQ pulp of Moringa oleifera (MO), comparing its behavior withthat of a conventional soda-AQ pulp of Eucalyptus grandis (EG). Soda-AQdelignification was carried out using 20% NaOH, 0.1% AQ (% dry weight) at atemperature of 170°C, and liquid/solid ratio of 5.5:1. Time was varied toachieve the same Kappa number. Both pulps were subjected to two stages ofmechanical fibrillation. The first stage consisted of refining up to 70°SR in aPFI laboratory refiner. Subsequently, the refined pulps were microfibrillatedon a high shear stress mill (Mika brand) at 35,000 rpm. Samples were extractedat different times for 1 hour to observe the evolution of changes in the fibersin an image analyzer incorporated into the optical microscope. Both soda-AQpulps averaged 18 Kappa but MO needed twice as long as EG (45 y 90 min,respectively). However, to obtain 70°SR Shopper, MO required half ofrevolutions than EG in the PFI refiner (2000 and 4000 rpm, respectively). Theimages obtained along microfibrillation in the Mika mill show a more rapiddevelopment of microfibrillation for MO. Moringa oleifera appears as an interestingoption for the production of MFLC for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)in combination with silvopastoral ventures. The MFLC obtained could be used asadditive in the manufacture of linerboard or in higher added value cellulosicproducts.