Effect of Unbleached Rice Straw Cellulose Nanofibers on the Properties of Polysulfone Membranes

Preparation and Characterization of Polysulfone Membranes Reinforced with Cellulose Nanofibers

The mechanical properties of polymeric membranes are very important in water treatment applications. In this study, polysulfone (PSF) membranes with different loadings of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) were prepared via the phase inversion method. CNF was characterized through transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The pore morphology, mechanical properties, membrane performance and hydrophilicity of pure PSF membranes and PSF/CNF membranes were investigated. The changes in membrane pore structure with the addition of different CNF contents were observed using SEM images. It was shown that the calculated membrane pore sizes correlate with the membrane water fluxes. The pure water flux (PWF) of fabricated membranes increased with the addition of CNFs into the PSF matrix. It was shown that the optimal CNF loading of 0.3 wt.% CNF improved both the elastic modulus and yield stress of the PSF/CNF membranes by 34% and 32%, respectively (corresponds to values of 234.5 MPa and 5.03 MPa, respectively). This result indicates a strong interfacial interaction between the PSF matrix and the reinforced nanofibers. The calculated compaction factor (CF) showed that the membrane resistance to compaction could be improved with CNF reinforcement. Compared to pure PSF membrane, the hydrophilicity was significantly enhanced with the incorporation of 0.1 wt.%, 0.2 wt.% and 0.3 wt.% CNF, as shown by the water contact angle (WCA) results. It can be concluded that CNFs are homogeneously dispersed within the PSF matrix at CNF loading less than 0.5 wt.%.

Ultrafine Friction Grinding of Lignin for Development of Starch Biocomposite Films

The work demonstrates the utilization of fractionalized lignin from the black liquor of soda pulping for the development of starch-lignin biocomposites. The effect of ultrafine friction grinding on lignin particle size and properties of the biocomposites was investigated. Microscopic analysis and membrane filtration confirmed the reduction of lignin particle sizes down to micro and nanoparticles during the grinding process. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy confirmed the compatibility between lignin particles and starch in the composites. The composite films were characterized for chemical structure, ultraviolet blocking, mechanical, and thermal properties. Additional grinding steps led to the reduction of large lignin particles and the produced particles were uniform. The formation of 7.7 to 11.3% lignin nanoparticles was confirmed in the two steps of membrane filtration. The highest tensile strain of the biocomposite films were 5.09 MPa, which displays a 40% improvement compared to starch films. Further, thermal stability of the composite films was better than that of starch films. The results from ultraviolet transmission showed that the composite films could act as an ultraviolet barrier in packaging applications.

Novel Terahertz Spectroscopy Technology for Crystallinity and Crystal Structure Analysis of Cellulose

Crystallinity is an essential indicator for evaluating the quality of fiber materials. Terahertz spectroscopy technology has excellent penetrability, no harmful substances, and commendable detection capability of absorption characteristics. The terahertz spectroscopy technology has great application potential in the field of fiber material research, especially for the characterization of the crystallinity of cellulose. In this work, the absorption peak of wood cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, wood nano cellulose, and cotton nano cellulose were probed in the terahertz band to calculate the crystallinity, and the result compared with XRD and FT-IR analysis. The vibration model of cellulose molecular motion was obtained by density functional theory. The results showed that the average length of wood cellulose (WC) single fiber was 300 μm. The microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was bar-like, and the average length was 20 μm. The cotton cellulose nanofiber (C-CNF) was a single fibrous substance with a length of 50 μm, while the wood cellulose nanofiber (W-CNF) was with a length of 250 μm. The crystallinity of cellulose samples in THz was calculated as follows: 73% for WC, 78% for MCC, 85% for W-CNF, and 90% for C-CNF. The crystallinity values were obtained by the three methods which were different to some extent. The absorption peak of the terahertz spectra was most obvious when the samples thickness was 1 mm and mixed mass ratio of the polyethylene and cellulose was 1:1. The degree of crystallinity was proportional to the terahertz absorption coefficients of cellulose, the five-movement models of cellulose molecules corresponded to the five absorption peak positions of cellulose.

Water purification ultrafiltration membranes using nanofibers from unbleached and bleached rice straw

There has been an increasing interest in recent years in isolating cellulose nanofibers from unbleached cellulose pulps for economic, environmental, and functional reasons. In the current work, cellulose nanofibers isolated from high-lignin unbleached neutral sulfite pulp were compared to those isolated from bleached rice straw pulp in making thin-film ultrafiltration membranes by vacuum filtration on hardened filter paper. The prepared membranes were characterized in terms of their microscopic structure, hydrophilicity, pure water flux, protein fouling, and ability to remove lime nanoparticles and purify papermaking wastewater effluent. Using cellulose nanofibers isolated from unbleached pulp facilitated the formation of a thin-film membrane (with a shorter filtration time for thin-film formation) and resulted in higher water flux than that obtained using nanofibers isolated from bleached fibers, without sacrificing its ability to remove the different pollutants.