Abstract
The fibrillation of a bleached kraft eucalyptus pulp was investigated by means of a laboratory-scale disk grinder for the production of cellulose nanofibrils (CNF), while the parameters disk rotating speed, solid loading, and fibrillation duration were varied. The cumulative energy consumption was monitored during fibrillation. The degree of polymerization (DP) and water retention value (WRV) of the resultant cellulose fibrils were determined as measures of the degree of fibrillation, which was also visualized by scanning electron microscopy, field emission-scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy imaging. A higher rotating speed than 1500 rpm did not improve the fibrillation judged by DP and WRV measurements. Solid loading has an insignificant effect on fibrillation in a wide range. The energy consumption (E) was determined as a function of the DP and WRV. The optimal grinding conditions were between 1200 and 1500 rpm at 2.0%–2.2% solid loading.
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge the financial supports from the Department of Education of Guangdong Province (YQ2013029), the USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative through a competitive grant (No. 2011-67009-20056), and the Chinese Scholarship Council. The funding from these programs made the visiting appointment of Chuanshuang Hu at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory possible.
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Article note:
This work was conducted when C. Hu was a visiting scientist at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory and on official U.S. Government time of J.Y. Zhu and R. Gleisner.
©2015 by De Gruyter
