Abstract
High (14.9%), medium (2.4%) and low (0.1%) lignin-containing cellulosic fibers were processed through a micro-grinding method to mechanically produce lignocellulose nanofibrils (LCNFs). Effects of residual lignin on the mechanical defibrillation process were investigated in terms of the nanofibrils yields, the diameters of resultant LCNFs and the micro-grinding energy consumption. The results showed that the residual lignin delayed the initial defibrillation of cellulosic fibers due to its physical barrier. However, the residual lignin eventually facilitated the defibrillation and improved the maximum nanofibrils yields by 17.9–30.8%, and greatly reduced the diameters of the resultant LCNFs from 32.9 ± 7.7 to 9.2 ± 3.3 nm. The effects of lignin on counteracting the recombination reactions between the highly reactive cellulose radicals and hindering the aggregation of defibrillated fibrils through reducing the inter-fibrillar hydrogen bonding presumably resulted in the better eventual defibrillation of cellulosic fibrils.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank the supports from China Scholarship Council under Grant No. 201706660011 and the Project for Graduate Study Overseas of Guangxi University. The research is sponsored by the Innovation Project of Guangxi Graduate Education (YCBZ2018016), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21766002), the Scientific Research Foundation of Guangxi University (XTZ140551), and the Foundation of Guangxi Key Laboratory of Clean Pulp & Papermaking and Pollution Control (KF201606 and ZR201603).
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Jiang, Y., Liu, X., Yang, Q. et al. Effects of residual lignin on mechanical defibrillation process of cellulosic fiber for producing lignocellulose nanofibrils. Cellulose 25, 6479–6494 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-018-2042-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-018-2042-6