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Novel biorefinery: A residue from wood bioethanol production converted into cellulose nanocrystals

Proceedings article published in 2010 by Martha A. Herrera, J. A. Etang, A. Jackson Etang, Aji P. Mathew, Kristiina Oksman ORCID
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

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Preprint: policy unknown
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Postprint: policy unknown
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Abstract

The aim of the work was to use an industrial bio-residue as a raw material for the production of cellulose nanocrystals. The used residue, obtained from a bioethanol pilot plant, was purified using chemical extraction and whitening, and separated to nanocrystals by mechanical and chemical treatments such as ultrasonication, high-pressure homogenization and hydrolization. The chemical compositions and characteristics of the bio-residue were studied before and after purification using a TAPPI standard, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The morphology of the isolated nanocrystals was characterized using atomic force microscope (AFM). The chemical composition of the used bio-residue was found to be 49.5 wt-% cellulose, 42.1 wt-% lignin and 8.4 wt-% extractives. The crystallinity of the bio-residue was 14.5% and it increased to more than 73% after the purification process. The AFM study showed that a simple ultrasonication and homogenization processes resulted in nanosized crystals with diameters in the 10-20 nm range.