Wood nanofibers (WNFs) are novel class of cellulosic nanomaterials, which are produced from lignin-rich wood fibers. WNFs can be produced directly from non-bleached wood materials like groudwood pulp or even from industrial side-streams such as sawdust. Due to the direct use of wood raw material with low processing degree, WNFs can be seen as more material efficient, low cost, and less environmental demanding nanomaterials compared to traditional cellulose nanofibers (CNFs). In this study, we produced WNFs using reactive deep eutectic solvent (DES) based on sulfamic acid and urea. During the reaction, DES was used as both reaction media and reagent, as sulfamic acid can sulfate hydroxyl groups of wood. It was observed that both groudwood pulp and sawdust exhibited similar reactivity in DES compared to bleached dissolving pulp. However, both sulfated lignin-rich materials were obtained in significantly higher yields compared to bleached pulp. WNFs were obtained from sulfated wood fibers using mild mechanic disintegration with microfluidizer. In addition to material and environmental aspects, due to the presence of lignin, sulfated WNFs exhibited some advanced properties compared to sulfated CNFs. Addition of sulfated WNFs in poly(vinyl alcohol) matrix resulted in nanocomposites with high visible light transparence and efficient blockage against UV-radiation. The reference sulfate CNFs exhibited minimal UV-absorbing properties. In addition, sulfated WNFs showed better removal efficiency of toxic heavy metals from model water compared to sulfated CNFs.

Sulfated wood nanofibers produced using reactive deep eutectic solvent

2019 Spring National Meeting

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