Influence of radiolysis on the yield of nanocellulose from plant biomass

Abstract

Radiolysis of plant biomass with doses of 200-300 kGy prior to dispersing by chemimechanical methods increases the yield of nanocellulose from cellulosic feedstock by more than a factor of two. Another advantage of radiation pretreatment of initial samples is the effect of radiation sterilization of isolated nanocellulose hydrogels, whereas the hydrogel obtained without preliminary irradiation rapidly suffers from the attack of molds during storage in the laboratory. Photolysis of plant raw material at a wavelength of 253.7 nm has almost no effect on the yield of nanocellulose. The molecular and supramolecular structure of nanoparticles with a size of 200-300 nm remains unchanged on passing to the nanoscale and corresponds to the macromolecular structure of cellulose. Industrial testing of the hydrogel as an additive (2.5%) for an adhesive composite used in the manufacture of wood laminates (plywood) showed an enhancement of the strength characteristics of the products by 15-20%. The increase in strength is mainly due to an increase in the contact area of cohesive bonding through small coiled molecular entities composed of 10-16 Kuhn segments including up to 28 monomer units each. © 2013 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.