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

Congreso; IX Iberoamerican Conference on Pulp and Paper Research, CIADICYP 2016; 2016

Aalto University, VTT, Åbo Akademi University, RIADICYP, PROVALOR

Pulp and paper industry has a huge potential to adaptits processes for the production of micro and nano materials from cellulose.The microfibrillated lignocellulose (MFLC) has aroused great interest becauseof its potential to modify barrier properties and strength of various materialsin a wide range of industrial applications. Moringaoleifera is known commercially because of the nutritional value of itsseeds, leaves, stems, and flowers for human and animal consumption andmedicinal properties. It is a fast growing species which adapts to a wide rangeof soils. It is currently cultivated in Paraguay, Brazil, and Bolivia becauseof the great interest in their products. Moringais a lignocellulosic resource from which high-value products can be obtained byapplying processes based on the concept of forest biorefinery. The aim of thiswork was to obtain MFLC from a soda-AQ pulp of Moringa oleifera (MO), comparing its behavior with that of aconventional soda-AQ pulp of Eucalyptusgrandis (EG). Soda-AQ delignification was carried out using 20% NaOH, 0.1%AQ (% dry weight) at a temperature of 170°C, and liquid/solid ratio of 5.5:1.Time was varied to achieve the same Kappa number. Both pulps were subjected totwo stages of mechanical fibrillation. The first stage consisted of refining upto 70°SR in a PFI laboratory refiner. Subsequently, the refined pulps weremicrofibrillated on a high shear stress mill (Mika brand) at 35,000 rpm.Samples were extracted at different times for 1 hour to observe the evolution ofchanges in the fibers in an image analyzer incorporated into the opticalmicroscope. Both soda-AQ pulps averaged 18 Kappa but MO needed twice as long asEG (45 y 90 min, respectively). However, toobtain 70°SR Shopper, MO required half of revolutions than EG in the PFIrefiner (2000 and 4000 rpm, respectively). The images obtained alongmicrofibrillation in the Mika mill show a more rapid development ofmicrofibrillation for MO. Moringaoleifera appears as an interesting option for the production of MFLC forsmall and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in combination with silvopastoralventures. The MFLC obtained could be used as additive in the manufacture oflinerboard or in higher added value cellulosic products.