Towards optimised size distribution in commercial microfibrillated cellulose: a fractionation approach

Abstract

Abstract: For the successful commercialisation of microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) it is of utmost importance to carefully characterise the constituent cellulose particles. This could for instance lead to the development of MFC grades with size distributions tailored for specific applications. Characterization of MFC is challenging due to the heterogeneous chemical and structural nature of MFC. This study describes a fractionation approach that combines two steps of physical sieving of larger particles and a final centrifugation step to separate out the smallest, colloidally stable particles, resulting in four distinctly different size fractions. The properties, such as size and charge, of each fraction were studied, as well as MFC filtration time, film formation, and film properties (mechanical and optical). It was found that virtually all surface charges, determined by polyelectrolyte adsorption, are located in the colloidally stable fraction of the MFC. In addition, the amount of available surface charges can be used as an estimate of the degree of fibrillation of the MFC. The partly fibrillated particles frequently displayed a branching, fringed morphology. Mechanical testing of films from the different fractions revealed that the removal of large particles may be more important for strength than achieving full fibrillation. Overall, this study demonstrates that by controlling the size distribution in MFC grades, property profiles including dewatering time to make films by filtration, rheology, film strength and optical transmittance could be optimised. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].