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Production of high lignin-containing and lignin-free cellulose nanocrystals from wood

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Abstract

A new method is described for producing high-lignin-containing and lignin-free cellulose nanocrystals from poplar wood (HLCNCs and LFCNCs, respectively). This was accomplished by first hydrothermally treating the poplar wood fibers at 170 °C for 45 min in a Parr reactor. For obtaining HLCNCs, the treated fibers were directly hydrolyzed by 64% sulfuric acid whereas for LFCNCs, the fibers were delignified prior to the acid hydrolysis. The CNCs thus produced were characterized using spectroscopy, microscopy, and diffraction techniques and compared with bleached kraft pulp-CNCs. The comparison indicated that while LFCNCs and pulp-CNCs had similar properties, the HLCNCs are expected to be superior for certain applications due to their hydrophobicity that was caused by presence of lignin nanoparticles. Lastly, results of the experiment where treatment temperature was varied during the hydrothermal treatment indicated that crystallinity of the CNCs produced from 200 °C treated poplar was higher compared to 170 °C treated substrate. This implied that CNCs from wood can be produced that have varying degree of crystallinity.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Ms. Debby Sherman (DSimaging, LLC) for obtaining the TEMs of CNCs. Also, Fred Matt of Analytical Chemistry and Microscopy Laboratory is acknowledged for the chemical analyses of the samples. The authors gratefully acknowledge use of X-ray facilities and instrumentation supported by NSF through the University of Wisconsin Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (DMR-1121288).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fiber and Chemical Sciences Research, USDA FS, Forest Products Laboratory, 1 Gifford Pinchot Drive, Madison, WI, 53726-2398, USA

    Umesh P. Agarwal, Sally A. Ralph, Richard S. Reiner & Carlos Baez

  2. Forest Biopolymer Science and Engineering, USDA FS, Forest Products Laboratory, 1 Gifford Pinchot Drive, Madison, WI, 53726-2398, USA

    Christopher G. Hunt & Rebecca Ibach

  3. Analytical Chemistry and Microscopy Laboratory, USDA FS, Forest Products Laboratory, 1 Gifford Pinchot Drive, Madison, WI, 53726-2398, USA

    Kolby C. Hirth

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  1. Umesh P. Agarwal
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Correspondence to Umesh P. Agarwal.

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Agarwal, U.P., Ralph, S.A., Reiner, R.S. et al. Production of high lignin-containing and lignin-free cellulose nanocrystals from wood. Cellulose 25, 5791–5805 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-018-1984-z

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