Populus alba L., an Autochthonous Species of Spain: A Source for Cellulose Nanofibers by Chemical Pretreatment

Polymers

Ana Valdehíta¹  José M. Navas¹  David Ibarra²  Raquel Martín-Sampedro²  María E. Eugenio²  Bernd Wicklein³  Concepción Valencia⁴  Antonio M. Borrero-López⁴ 

[1] Environment and Agronomy Department (INIA, CSIC), Ctra. de la Coruña Km 7.5, 28040 Madrid, Spain;Forest Research Center (INIA, CSIC), Ctra. de la Coruña Km 7.5, 28040 Madrid, Spain;Materials Science Institute of Madrid (ICMM), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain;Pro2TecS—Chemical Process and Product Technology Research Centre, Departamento de Ingeniería Química, ETSI, Campus de “El Carmen”, Universidad de Huelva, 21071 Huelva, Spain;

关键词: cellulose nanofibers;    chemical pretreatment;    cytotoxicity;    nanocellulose;    Populus alba L.;    rheology;   

DOI  :  10.3390/polym14010068

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

In order to identify new sustainable sources for producing cellulose nanofibers (CNFs), fast-growing poplar (Populus alba L.) wood was evaluated herein. For that purpose, bleached poplar kraft pulp was produced and submitted to TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radical) mediated oxidation (TEMPO-ox) chemical pretreatment followed by microfluidization. The resulting CNFs were thoroughly characterized, including a rheological study at different pH values. Poplar CNFs showed properties comparable to eucalypt CNFs (reference material for CNFs production), showing high carboxylate content (1048 ± 128 µmol g⁻¹), fibrillation yield (87.3% ± 8.1%), optical transmittance (83% at 700 nm) and thermal stability (up to more than 200 °C). Regarding the rheological study, whereas pH from 4 to 10 did not produce significant changes in rheological behavior, a reduction of pH down to 1 led to an order-of-magnitude increase on the viscoelastic functions. Therefore, poplar CNF shows potential in the pH-sensitive hydrogels application field. Finally, the possible ecotoxicity of poplar CNF was assessed. The decrease in cell viability was very low so that only concentrations causing a 10% cytotoxicity could be calculated for the assay detecting alterations in cell metabolism (10 µg mL⁻¹) and plasma membrane integrity (60 µg mL⁻¹).

【 授权许可】

Unknown