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. 2020 Jul 18;25(14):3275.
doi: 10.3390/molecules25143275.

Horticultural Plant Residues as New Source for Lignocellulose Nanofibers Isolation: Application on the Recycling Paperboard Process

Isabel Bascón-Villegas  1   2 , Eduardo Espinosa  1 , Rafael Sánchez  3 , Quim Tarrés  4 , Fernando Pérez-Rodríguez  2 , Alejandro Rodríguez  1
Affiliations

Horticultural Plant Residues as New Source for Lignocellulose Nanofibers Isolation: Application on the Recycling Paperboard Process

Isabel Bascón-Villegas et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Horticultural plant residues (tomato, pepper, and eggplant) were identified as new sources for lignocellulose nanofibers (LCNF). Cellulosic pulp was obtained from the different plant residues using an environmentally friendly process, energy-sustainable, simple, and with low-chemical reagent consumption. The chemical composition of the obtained pulps was analyzed in order to study its influence in the nanofibrillation process. Cellulosic fibers were subjected to two different pretreatments, mechanical and TEMPO(2,2,6,6-Tetramethyl-piperidin-1-oxyl)-mediated oxidation, followed by high-pressure homogenization to produce different lignocellulose nanofibers. Then, LCNF were deeply characterized in terms of nanofibrillation yield, cationic demand, carboxyl content, morphology, crystallinity, and thermal stability. The suitability of each raw material to produce lignocellulose nanofibers was analyzed from the point of view of each pretreatment. TEMPO-mediated oxidation was identified as a more effective pretreatment to produce LCNF, however, it produces a decrease in the thermal stability of the LCNF. The different LCNF were added as reinforcing agent on recycled paperboard and compared with the improving produced by the industrial mechanical beating. The analysis of the papersheets' mechanical properties shows that the addition of LCNF as a reinforcing agent in the paperboard recycling process is a viable alternative to mechanical beating, achieving greater reinforcing effect and increasing the products' life cycles.

Keywords: horticultural residues; lignocellulose nanofibers; paperboard; recycling.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical composition of horticultural plant residues and cellulosic pulps.
Figure 2
Figure 2
XRD patterns of horticultural residues pulps.
Figure 3
Figure 3
SEM microphotography of the different LCNF.
Figure 4
Figure 4
XRD patterns of LCNF obtained by mechanical (a) and TEMPO-oxidation (b) pretreatments.
Figure 5
Figure 5
TGA and DTG curves of mechanical (a,b) and TEMPO-oxidation (c,d) LCNF.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Evolution of the mechanical properties of recycled paperboard after different treatments.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Evolution of the elongation at break of recycled paperboard after different treatments.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Evolution of drainability properties of cardboard suspension with different LCNF amount.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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