Journal
POLYMERS
Volume 14, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/polym14010068
Keywords
cellulose nanofibers; chemical pretreatment; cytotoxicity; nanocellulose; Populus alba L; rheology
Categories
Funding
- Comunidad de Madrid [SUSTEC-CM S2018/EMT-4348]
- MCIU/AEI/FEDER, EU [RTI2018-096080-B-C22]
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The sustainable potential of fast-growing poplar wood as a source for producing cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) was evaluated. The resulting poplar CNFs exhibited properties comparable to eucalypt CNFs, making them a promising alternative. Furthermore, the pH-sensitive hydrogel application of poplar CNFs was identified.
In order to identify new sustainable sources for producing cellulose nanofibers (CNFs), fast-growing poplar (Populus alba L.) wood was evaluated herein. For that purpose, bleached poplar kraft pulp was produced and submitted to TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radical) mediated oxidation (TEMPO-ox) chemical pretreatment followed by microfluidization. The resulting CNFs were thoroughly characterized, including a rheological study at different pH values. Poplar CNFs showed properties comparable to eucalypt CNFs (reference material for CNFs production), showing high carboxylate content (1048 +/- 128 mu mol g(-1)), fibrillation yield (87.3% +/- 8.1%), optical transmittance (83% at 700 nm) and thermal stability (up to more than 200 degrees C). Regarding the rheological study, whereas pH from 4 to 10 did not produce significant changes in rheological behavior, a reduction of pH down to 1 led to an order-of-magnitude increase on the viscoelastic functions. Therefore, poplar CNF shows potential in the pH-sensitive hydrogels application field. Finally, the possible ecotoxicity of poplar CNF was assessed. The decrease in cell viability was very low so that only concentrations causing a 10% cytotoxicity could be calculated for the assay detecting alterations in cell metabolism (10 mu g mL(-1)) and plasma membrane integrity (60 mu g mL(-1)).
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