Evaluation of the characteristics of cellulose nanofibril made from persimmon tree byproducts

Abstract

In this study, we evaluated the applicability of fruit by-products as raw materials for the production of cellulose nanofibril (CNF). The persimmon byproducts generated by pruning persimmon trees were collected and used for the manufacture of bleached kraft pulp and CNFs. The persimmon byproduct bleached kraft pulp (PB-BKP) was made at the optimum pulping and bleaching conditions reported in the previous study and the CNFs were made from PB-BKP and commercial hardwood bleached kraft pulp (Hw-BKP) by refining and micro-grinding processes. After micro-grinding, the particle size, viscosity, zeta potential, and fiber width were evaluated according to the pass number of fibrillation. The appearance of the CNF slurries showed no significant difference between PB-BKP and Hw-BKP. It was found that nanoization of PB-BKP and Hw-BKP proceeded sufficiently when the pass number was five or more. In addition, as the pass number increased, the low shear viscosity of CNF increased, the particle size decreased, and no significant change was observed in the zeta potential. Looking at each pulp, CNF made of PB-KBP had higher fiber width and particle size than Hw-BKP in the initial pass number, but the difference decreased when the pass number was nine. Therefore, CNF made with PB-BKP and CNF made with Hw-BKP showed similar characteristics after the sufficient pass number of micro-grinding. Based on the results, we concluded that persimmon tree by-products can be used as raw materials for the production of CNF. ? 2020 Korean Technical Assoc. of the Pulp and Paper Industry. All rights reserved.