This paper presents a novel green approach for combined telomerization and defibrillation of cellulose to generate telomerized cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs). A one-pot process was possible by using multi-functional agent that served as reagent, solvent and acid. Telomerization is already 100% atom efficient, and an elegant way to synthesize stable ethers with minimal environmental impact. This multi functional reagent further reduced the use of chemicals by serving as reactants to telomerize with cellulose as well as solvent phase to produce ether functional groups on C2, C3 or C6 hydroxyls of anhydroglucose unit. The byproduct of the agent then aid hydrolysis of 1,4-glycosidic bonds and disrupt hydrogen bonding to facilitate the defibrillation of cellulose. The telomerized CNFs generated under optimal conditions were 0.96±0.53 nm (n=80) thick and whose surface chemistry could be characterized by solution phase proton NMR. These telomerized CNFs were hydrophobic than those produced by TEMPO mediated oxidation, suspendable in acetone while remaining dispersible in water. These telomerized CNFs could self-assemble into sub-micron wide (204, n=50) fibers with same thermal stability as the original cellulose, remarkably thermally more stable than other chemically derived nanocellulose reported to date while much thinner than those derived from shear forces.

One pot generation of hydrophobic nanocellulose by a multi-functional agent

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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