Delignification effect on properties of lignocellulose nanofibers from Korean white pine and their nanopapers

Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of delignification on properties of lignocellulose nanofibers (LCNFs) prepared by wet disk-milling (WDM) after steam and ozone oxidation pre-treatments and their nanopaper sheets. Delignification treatment was effective to obtain fine morphology with uniform fiber diameter less than 35 nm without aggregation, and increased the specific surface area (SSA) and filtration time of LCNFs. In particular, SSA and filtration time of the LCNFs prepared by WDM after ozone pretreatment increased 1.5 and 5.4 times after further delignification. Delignification also increased whiteness and decreased the redness of nanopaper sheets. The highest color difference (41.9) before and after the delignification was obtained in LCNFs prepared by WDM after the steam pretreatment. Tensile properties of nanopaper sheets were also increased by further delignification. The highest tensile strength was found to be 142 MPa.