From pine sawdust to cellulose nanofibers

EHMAN, NANCI VANESA; TARRES, QUIM; VALLEJOS, M. E.; FELISSIA, FERNANDO ESTEBAN; AREA, MARIA CRISTINA; MUTJE, PERE

Córdoba

Workshop; 1st International Workshop on Biorefinery of Lignocellulosic Materials; 2015

Biorefinery technology is an actual alternative to petroleum based industry to produce energy, chemicals and materials. The conversion of forest and agricultural lignocellulosic residues to high value added products has become important because of their renewable nature and high availability as raw materials. The pine sawdust is a promissory candidate as raw material in a biorefinery. This waste from the primary industrialization of wood is available in large quantities and low cost, and is currently open-air burned.The aim of this study was to obtain nanofibrillated cellulose (CNF) from pine sawdust.Oxidative methods for the purification of the raw material were used. CNF was produced by the combination of chemical (TEMPO-oxidation) and mechanical (homogenizer) treatments.The effect of TEMPO-oxidation on degree of polymerization, cationic demand, carboxyl rate and nanofibrillation yield were studied, as well as the specific surface and the diameter of the cellulose nanofibers were estimated.