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Novel aqueous spongy foams made of three-dimensionally dispersed wood-fiber: entrapment and stabilization with NFC/MFC within capillary foams

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Abstract

This article describes the preparation of novel aqueous spongy foams that are composed of three-dimensionally distributed wood-fiber networks stabilized with nanofibrillate cellulose (NFC) and/or microfibrillated cellulose (MFC). The free standing aqueous spongy foams were prepared with the entrapment of NFC and/or MFC—stabilized air-in-water (A/W) capillary foams using “gel trapping technique”. The stability of spongy foams could be controlled by manipulating the volume fraction of NFC and/or MFC and a secondary liquid immiscible with the continuous phase of the NFC and/or MFC suspension. Possible morphology and mechanical distribution of NFC and/or MFC within spongy foams were verified with optical microscope, SEM, and functional load-bearing method. Owing to three-dimensionally dispersed wood-fiber structure, ultra-lightweight (0.01–0.06 g/cm3), high porosity (>90%), and microporous (10–80 μm), the NFC and/or MFC reinforced spongy foams, improved compressional strength-vertical direction obviously, from 0.0 to more than 13.78 kPa.

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Acknowledgments

Authors are grateful to NSERC Strategic Network—Innovative Green Wood Fibre Products (Canada) and Guangxi Key Laboratory of Clean Pulp & Papermaking and Pollution Control (China) for part of funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Light Industry and Food Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, People’s Republic of China

    Yang Liu, Peng Lu & Shuangfei Wang

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Limerick Pulp and Paper Centre, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, E3B 5A3, Canada

    Yang Liu, Huining Xiao & Solmaz Heydarifard

Authors
  1. Yang Liu
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  2. Peng Lu
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  3. Huining Xiao
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  4. Solmaz Heydarifard
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  5. Shuangfei Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Huining Xiao.

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Liu, Y., Lu, P., Xiao, H. et al. Novel aqueous spongy foams made of three-dimensionally dispersed wood-fiber: entrapment and stabilization with NFC/MFC within capillary foams. Cellulose 24, 241–251 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-016-1103-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-016-1103-y

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