Abstract
Nanocelluloses occur under various crystalline forms that are being selectively used for a wide variety of high performance materials. In the present work, cellulose fibers (CF-I) were mercerized by alkaline treatment (CF-II) without molar mass variation (560 000 g/mol) and both were acid hydrolyzed, forming cellulose nanocrystals in native (CNC-I) and mercerized (CNC-II) forms. This work establishes detailed characterization of these two nanoparticles morphology (light and neutron scattering, TEM, AFM), surface chemistry (zetametry and surface charge), crystallinity (XRD, 13C NMR), and average molar mass coupled to chromatographic technics (SEC-MALLS-RI, A4F-MALLS-RI), evidencing variations in packing of the crystalline domains. The crystal size of CNC-II is reduced by half compared to CNC-I, with molar masses of individual chains of 41 000 g/mol and 22 000 g/mol for CNC-I and CNC-II respectively, whereas the same charged surface chemistry is measured. This fundamental analysis may give insight to new applicative development.
Cellulose Nanocrystals from Native and Mercerized Cotton
