%0 Journal Article
%A Xu, Hongyu
%A Balea Martín, Ana
%A Blanco Suárez, María Ángeles
%A Negro Álvarez, Carlos Manuel
%T Influence of swelling on the efficiency of TEMPO reaction, nanofibril production and characterization
%D 2024
%@ 2666-8939
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/109397
%X This paper studies the effect of three swelling pretreatment processes (glycerol, alkaline, and molten salt hydrate) to improve the efficiency of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl (TEMPO)-mediated oxidation (TMO) to produce cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs). The novelty of this research lies in the presentation of a new approach that increases the process`s sustainability. The new pretreatment results in the reduction of both chemical reagents and energy consumption. Results demonstrate that pulps pretreated with molten salt hydrate exhibit a crystallinity index up to 50 % lower than the original fibers, while the carboxyl groups obtained during oxidation increase up to 30 %. The increase in oxidation efficiency allows us to obtain a highly fibrillated CNF with a 50 % dose reduction of TEMPO and NaBr at the same time that the energy consumption (kWh/kg) is reduced by 15%.
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