Effect of endoglucanase and high-pressure homogenization post-treatments on mechanically grinded cellulose nanofibrils and their film performance

Ying Xu; Shuang Yang; Peitao Zhao; Min Wu; Xueping Song; Arthur J Ragauskas

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.117253

Effect of endoglucanase and high-pressure homogenization post-treatments on mechanically grinded cellulose nanofibrils and their film performance

Carbohydr Polym. 2021 Feb 1:253:117253. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.117253. Epub 2020 Oct 20.

Authors

Ying Xu¹, Shuang Yang², Peitao Zhao³, Min Wu⁴, Xueping Song⁵, Arthur J Ragauskas⁶

Affiliations

¹ College of Light Industry and Food Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, PR China; Guangxi Key Laboratory of Clean Pulp & Papermaking and Pollution Control, Nanning, 530004, PR China. Electronic address: 1816301030@st.gxu.edu.cn.
² College of Light Industry and Food Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, PR China; Guangxi Key Laboratory of Clean Pulp & Papermaking and Pollution Control, Nanning, 530004, PR China. Electronic address: 18242364407@163.com.
³ School of Electrical and Power Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, PR China; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA. Electronic address: p.zhao@cumt.edu.cn.
⁴ College of Light Industry and Food Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, PR China; Guangxi Key Laboratory of Clean Pulp & Papermaking and Pollution Control, Nanning, 530004, PR China. Electronic address: wumin@gxu.edu.cn.
⁵ College of Light Industry and Food Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, PR China; Guangxi Key Laboratory of Clean Pulp & Papermaking and Pollution Control, Nanning, 530004, PR China; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA. Electronic address: sx_ping@163.com.
⁶ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA; Joint Institute for Biological Sciences, Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA; Center for Renewable Carbon, Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA. Electronic address: aragausk@utk.edu.

PMID: 33279003
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.117253

Abstract

In this study, the effects of mechanical grinding (G) assisted by endoglucanase (E) and high-pressure homogenization (H) post-treated cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) and its film properties were investigated. Compared to only mechanical grinding, these two post-treatment processes improved the size uniformity of CNFs in width. The crystallinity of GECNFs was increased by 4.3 % and the resulting film exhibited low oxygen permeability rate (6.33 mL/m²·day). Moreover, the combination post-treatments of enzyme and homogenization improved the tensile strength and transparency of CNFs films from 132.31 MPa, 27.52 %- to 177.99 MPa, 61.75 %, respectively. Besides, a composite of acrylic resin ABPE-10 and GEHCNFs film under negative pressure improved the transparency (85.68 %) and water contact angle (104.11°) of film. This work also provides insight on the relationship between the CNFs morphology and their film properties, which can be used to improve the CNFs film performance and promote future applications of CNFs.

Keywords: Cellulose nanofibrils; Endoglucanase; Film performance; High-pressure homogenization; Post-treatment.