Regulating the Function of Nanocomposite Made from Hydroxypropyl Methyl Cellulose with Bacterial Cellulose Nanocrystal

Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose(HPMC)-based hybrid nanocomposites reinforced with bacterial cellulose nanocrystals(BCNC) were prepared and characterized.The HPMC nanocomposites exhibited good thermal stability,with a thermogravimetric peak temperature of around 346℃.The addition of BCNC did not significantly affect the thermal degradation temperature or improve the transparency of HPMC nanocomposites.However,the addition of BCNC favorably affected the light scattering properties of the nanocomposites and enhanced mechanical properties such as tensile stress and Young's modulus from 65 MPa and 1.5 GPa up to 139 MPa and 3.2 GPa,respectively.The oxygen permeability of the HPMC nanocomposites also increased with increase in the amount of BCNC added.

Functionally Modified Cellulose Nanocrystals as an Adsorbent for Anionic Dyes

Cellulose nanocrystal was modified with poly(N,N-diethylaminomethyl methacrylate) to prepare an adsorbent containing amine groups for removing anionic dyes from waste water. The prepared adsorbent was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry(FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), and thermogravimetric analysis(TGA). The adsorption was affected by various factors, such as the contact time, adsorbent dosage, dye solution pH value, initial dye concentration, and ionic strength. The results revealed that amine functional groups mainly contribute to the adsorption of azo dyes(AO7). The adsorbent showed pseudo-secondorder adsorption kinetics, indicating that the dye molecules were chemisorbed on the adsorbent. The adsorption isotherm was found to fit better with the Langmuir isotherm model than with the Freundlich isotherm model.

Etherification of Alkali-pretreated Sugarcane Bagasse Cellulose in Tetrahydrofuran

Sugarcane bagasse(SCB)is an important by-product in the sugar industry.It is a source of cellulose fibers or cellulose for paper mills and textiles factories.In this study,SCB was ethyl etherified in tetrahydrofuran(THF)after alkali pretreatment.The alkali concentration for the pretreatment,the ratio of ethyl bromide(EtBr)to dried SCB in the reaction,reaction time,and temperature were investigated for the etherification of SCB.The ethoxyl content and characterization of the product were determined using headspace gas chromatography(HS-GC),Fourier Transform Infrared(FT-IR)and 13C-NMR spectroscopy,respectively.It was found that SCB was well-etherified with EtBr in alkali-THF.Upon ethylation of SCB,the ethoxyl content of the product was high when the alkali concentration and the ratio of EtBr to dried SCB were controlled from 50%to 75%and 4:1(V/w)to 6:1(V/w),respectively.The reaction occurred optimally when the temperature was controlled below 110℃;above this temperature,the degree of etherification decreased.The thermal stability of ethylated SCB was higher than that of SCB but slightly lower than that of commercial ethyl cellulose.Ethylated SCB has the potential to form composites with many materials because it is soluble in a wide variety of solvents.

Performance Assessment of Nanocellulose Hydroxypropyl Methyl Cellulose Composite on Role of Nano-CaCO_(3) for the Preservation of Paper Documents

Deacidification and self-cleaning are important for the preservation of paper documents.In this study,nano-CaCO_(3) was used as a deacidification agent and stabilized by nanocellulose(CNC)and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose(HPMC)to form a uniform dispersion.Followed by polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)treatment and chemical vapor deposition(CVD)of methyltrimethoxysilane(MTMS),a hydrophobic coating was constructed for self-cleaning purposes.The pH value of the treated paper was approximately 8.20,and the static contact angle was as high as 152.29°.Compared to the untreated paper,the tensile strength of the treated paper increased by 12.6%.This treatment method endows the paper with a good deacidification effect and self-cleaning property,which are beneficial for its long-term preservation.

Effect of Acetic Acid Prehydrolysis on Unbleached Bamboo Pulp Production

Bamboo was used as raw material for unbleached pulp production.An acetic acid prehydrolysis process was employed before the pulping process.The effect of acetic acid prehydrolysis on pulp properties was investigated.The results showed that some components,such as hemicellulose and extractives,were degraded or dissolved in the prehydrolysis process prior to kraft pulping.SEM images of the substrate after treatment indicated that the parenchyma cell wall was thinner,and the size of pores between fiber bundle cell walls was larger.The pulping results showed that acetic acid prehydrolysis could improve the pulp quality and make the pulp easier to bleach.The brightness of the pulp reached 59.6%ISO with a single oxygen delignification step.The acetic acid prehydrolysis decreased pulp viscosity and fiber length,but not significantly.The amount of parenchyma cells in the pulp was reduced,which was beneficial for papermaking and improving mechanical strength of paper.This procedure has good potential for unbleached pulp production.

Effect of Enzyme-assisted Refining on the Properties of Bleached Softwood Pulp

Enzymatic pretreatment of pulp is demonstrated to be potentially effective for decreasing the energy consumption in the refining process.Herein,a neutral cellulase was utilized for the pretreatment of bleached softwood pulp in order to improve the refining performance.Cellulase pretreatment effectively improved the drainability of the pulp and could thus reduce the energy consumption in the refining process.The beating degree of the pulp was significantly improved at 6000 PFI revolutions,at which a maximum increase of 70% could be obtained.The water retention value(WRV) of the pulp increased by 17% after treatment with cellulase at a dosage of 5 IU/g,and the fibers could be easily torn apart after enzymatic treatment.To achieve the same beating degree,the refining time could be shortened by 80% when the pulp was treated with cellulase.Using a low dosage of cellulase,the freeness of the pulp increased rapidly without deterioration of the mechanical properties.

Magnetic Wood-based Superhydrophobic Aerogel for Efficient Oil-Water Separation

The fabrication of directionally driven oil-water separation materials has great significance for the removal of oil spills and organic pollutants.In this study,an oil-water separation aerogel capable of directionally adsorbing oil was designed using an anisotropic wood aerogel with a layered structure and a top-down fabrication strategy.Specifically,a magnetic wood-based superhydrophobic aerogel(methyltrimethoxysilane(MTMS)/Fe_(3)O_(4) wood aerogel)was developed through the in situ coprecipitation of Fe_(3)O_(4) nanoparticles and chemical vapor deposition.Owing to its highly porous structure,lipophilicity,hydrophobicity(water contact angle of 160°),and high compressibility,the MTMS/Fe_(3)O_(4) wood aerogel exhibits excellent oil-water separation performance and compression cycle stability.Additionally,the Fe_(3)O_(4) endows the material with excellent magnetic and photothermal conversion capabilities.These excellent properties make MTMS/Fe_(3)O_(4) wood aerogel a promising recyclable and sustainable oil-water separation material.

Preparation of Photo-thermal Cellulose Nanocrystal-based Hydrogel

Cellulose nanocrystal(CNC)prepared by hydrolysis of cotton linters with sulfuric acid was used to react with chloroauric acid to manufacture a gold nanoparticle/CNC composite.The composite was then graft-copolymerized with N-isopropylacrylamide to obtain a photo-thermal ultrafine gold nanoparticles/CNC-based hydrogel.The hydrogel was studied by performing scanning electron microscopy,and it was found that the prepared hydrogel had a network structure.The temperature of the hydrogel increased from 25℃to 39℃and its volume decreased by 30%when it was exposed to visible light(400~750 nm)for 1 h.The experiment results indicated that the prepared photo-thermal CNC-based hydrogel has thermal responsiveness and photo-thermal properties.

Preparation of Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose Acetate Succinate with a Narrow Molecular Weight Dispersion

Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose acetate succinate(HPMCAS)was successfully synthesized from the reaction of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose with succinic anhydride and acetic anhydride in an acetone/pyridine system.Products with different contents of succinyl groups and acetyl groups were prepared by varying the reaction conditions.In the acetone/pyridine system,equipment corrosion does not occur,the product is easy to wash,and the solvent can be recycled.By varying the concentration of the esterifying agents,products with different ratios of acidic groups can be obtained.Under the optimum conditions,the obtained products had an average molecular weight between 5.39×104 and 5.41×104,a number average molecular weight from 4.97×104 to 5.13×104,and a polydispersity index from 1.05 to 1.08.The products dissolved well in acetone and methanol,and formed films on a mold.The films had good pH-sensitivity,tensile strength,and thermal stability.The formed films could dissolve in solutions with a pH value ranging from 5.4 to 6.4,and are therefore suitable for use as an enteric coating for pharmaceutical dosage forms.

Induction of Superhydrophobicity in a Cellulose Substrate by LbL Assembly of Covalently Linked Dual-Sized Silica Nanoparticles Layers

Micro/nano texturized oxidized cellulose membranes (MNOCM) were constructed by layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly in which a base cellulose film was modified by covalent linkages to amino-functionalized silica nanoparticles (amino-SiO2 NPs, 260 nm diameter) and epoxy-functionalized silica nanoparticles (epoxy-SiO2 NPs, 30 nm diameter). The amino-SiO2 NPs grafted onto the MNOCM surface through a standard amidation reaction between the amino groups of the SiO2 NPs and the carboxyl groups of the MNOCM surface in the presence of EDC and NHS consequently forming a first layer of large (260 nm) nanoparticles;subsequently, it was reacted with smaller (30 nm) epoxy-SiO2 NPs. Continuous repetitions of these alternating sized silica NPs through a standard LbL approach lead to a highly micro/nano-texturized MNOCM film as shown by SEM, which was ultimately sealed with a layer of hydrophobic PFOTES (1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane). Although the wettability of MNOCM was no longer hydrophilic, it was found that at five layers deep of NPs, it became superhydrophobic as evidenced by a water contact angle of 151° ± 2° and slide angle of 4°. The change in wettability was attributed to increases in final LbL layer surface roughness induced by the sufficient LbL layering of alternating sizes of NPs akin to what is observed in a lotus leaf surface. It was also noted that these superhydrophobic-MNOCM materials displayed good self-cleaning.

Photothermal phase change material microcapsules via cellulose nanocrystal and graphene oxide co-stabilized Pickering emulsion for solar and thermal energy storage

Phase change materials(PCMs)have attracted significant attention in thermal management due to their ability to store and release large amounts of heat during phase transitions.However,their widespread application is restricted by leakage issues.Encapsulating PCMs within polymeric microcapsules is a promising strategy to prevent leakage and increase heat transfer area with matrices.Moreover,photothermal PCM microcapsules are particularly desirable for solar energy storage.Herein,we fabricated photothermal PCM microcapsules with melamine-formaldehyde resin(MF)as shell using cellulose nanocrystal(CNC)and graphene oxide(GO)co-stabilized Pickering emulsion droplets as templates.CNC displays outstanding Pickering emulsifying ability and can facilitate the fixation of GO at the oil-water interface,resulting in a stable CNC/GO co-stabilized PCM Pickering emulsion.A polydopamine(PDA)layer was coated in-situ on the emulsion droplets via oxidization self-polymerization of dopamine.Meanwhile,GO was reduced to reduced GO(rGO)due to the reducing ability of PDA.The outmost MF shell of the PCM microcapsules was formed in-situ through the polymerization and crosslinking of MF prepolymer.The resulted PCM@CNC/rGO/PDA/MF microcapsules exhibit uniform sizes in the micrometer range,excellent leakage-proof performance,high phase change enthalpy(175.4 J g^(−1))and PCM encapsulation content(84.2%).Moreover,the presence of rGO and PDA endows PCM@CNC/rGO/PDA/MF microcapsules with outstanding photothermal conversion performance.The temperature of PCM@CNC/rGO/PDA/MF microcapsule slurries(15wt.%)can reach 73°C after light irradiation at 1 W cm^(−2).Therefore,photothermal PCM@CNC/rGO/PDA/MF microcapsules are promising for solar energy harvesting,thermal energy storage,and release in various applications,such as energy-efficient buildings and smart textiles.

Bio-modification of eucalyptus chemithermomechanical pulp

Eucalyptus chemithermomechanical pulp(CTMP)was modified with the white-rot fungus 19-6 in a stationary culture condition.Different factors that influence the effect of white-rot fungus treatment,including additional nutrition,pH value,temperature,treatment time and oxygen input were investigated.The results show that the energy consumption of post refining of CTMP treated by white-rot fungus 19-6 was lower than that of untreated pulp and the strength properties also obviously improved.At a freeness level of about 330 mL,compared to the untreated pulp,the tensile index,tear index and internal bonding strength increased by 21.3%,27.4% and 33.1%,respectively.Unfortunately,the treatment with white-rot fungus substantially decreased all optical properties except for opacity,which was essentially unchanged.Brightness and light scatter-ing coefficient were reduced to as much as 25%and 21%compared to the untreated pulps.However,after a tow-stage“Na_(2)S_(2)O_(4)-H_(2)O_(2)”bleaching,the final brightness can reach 70.3%ISO,which is similar to that of the untreated CTMP.