Value-Added Utilization of Wheat Straw: From Cellulose and Cellulose Nanofiber to All-Cellulose Nanocomposite Film

To accelerate the high value-added usage of agricultural residue, cellulose and cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) were extracted from wheat straw and then formed into all-cellulose nanocomposite films. The acid-alkali method (AM) and the extraction method (EM) were respectively adopted to prepare wheat straw cellulose (WSC), and the TEMPO oxidation method was used to extract CNFs. The nanocomposite films were fabricated by dissolving WSC and adding different CNF contents of 0.0, 0.5, 1.5, and 3.0%. There was a better miscibility for the all-cellulose nanocomposite film prepared by EM (Composite-E) compared to that for the all-cellulose nanocomposite film prepared by AM (Composite-A). Composite-E also showed a better optical transparency than Composite-A. The thermal stability of the two RWSCs presented contrary results when the CNFs were added, indicating a higher thermal stability for Composite-E than for Composite-A. This should have determined the properties of the films in which Cellulose I and Cellulose II coexisted for the all-cellulose nanocomposite films, and the forming mechanism of Cellulose II and crystallinity were determined by the cellulose-extracting method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy also showed that there was more Cellulose I in Composite-E than in Composite-A. The results are expected to enrich the data for deep processing of agricultural residues.

Automated summary

All-cellulose nanocomposite films were fabricated by extracting cellulose and cellulose nanofibers from wheat straw. The films prepared using different extraction methods showed different properties, with Composite-E exhibiting better compatibility and thermal stability.