Cellulose micro/nanofibres from Eucalyptus kraft pulp: Preparation and properties

There is growing interest in cellulose nanofibres from renewable sources for several industrial applications. However, there is a lack of information about one of the most abundant cellulose pulps: bleached Eucalyptus kraft pulp. The objective of the present work was to obtain Eucalyptus cellulose micro/nanofibres by three different processes, namely: refining, sonication and acid hydrolysis of the cellulose pulp. The refining was limited by the low efficiency of isolated nanofibrils, while sonication was more effective for this purpose. However, the latter process occurred at the expense of considerable damage to the cellulose structure. The whiskers obtained by acid hydrolysis resulted in nanostructures with lower diameter and length, and high crystallinity. Increasing hydrolysis reaction time led to narrower and shorter whiskers, but increased the crystallinity index. The present work contributes to the different widespread methods used for the production of micro/nanofibres for different applications. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP)Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo - FAPESP [2009/10734-6, 2007/50863-4]Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG)Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais - FAPEMIGFinanciadora de Estudos e Projetos/Ministerio da Ciencia e Tecnologia FINEP/MCTFinanciadora de Estudos e Projetos/Ministerio da Ciencia e Tecnologia - FINEP/MCTCoordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior - CAPESCoordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES)EMBRAPA (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria)Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria - EMBRAPAConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico - CNPqConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq