Sustainable preparation of surface functionalized cellulose nanocrystals and their application for Pickering emulsions

Hui Wang; Meng Zhang; Jinguang Hu; Haishun Du; Ting Xu; Chuanling Si

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.120062

Sustainable preparation of surface functionalized cellulose nanocrystals and their application for Pickering emulsions

Carbohydr Polym. 2022 Dec 1:297:120062. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.120062. Epub 2022 Aug 31.

Authors

Hui Wang¹, Meng Zhang², Jinguang Hu³, Haishun Du⁴, Ting Xu⁵, Chuanling Si⁶

Affiliations

¹ Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China; Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary T2N 4H9, Canada; State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China.
² Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China.
³ Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary T2N 4H9, Canada.
⁴ Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China; Department of Chemical Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA. Electronic address: hzd0024@auburn.edu.
⁵ Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China. Electronic address: xuting@tust.edu.cn.
⁶ Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China; State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China. Electronic address: sichli@tust.edu.cn.

PMID: 36184156
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.120062

Abstract

Herein, a highly efficient and sustainable approach, namely HCl-catalyzed para-toluene sulfonic acid/Formic acid (p-TsOH/FA) hydrolysis was reported to produce surface functionalized cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). The optimized CNCs showed a high yield (79.6 %), high crystallinity (70.6 %) and high thermal stability (maximal weight loss temperature around 350 °C). In addition, the as-prepared CNCs possess excellent ability to stabilize oil-water due to the introduction of functional formyl groups, which could be promising stabilizers for Pickering emulsions (PEs). At a fixed oil-water ratio (2:8, v:v), the CNCs with the concentration of 0.5 wt% to 2.0 wt% could stabilize peanut oil to make PEs, and the emulsion droplets were <5 μm in diameter. In addition, the stability of the PEs at different temperature, pH, ionic strength, and long storage time were studied. The results indicated that the obtained CNCs could be sustainable and superior stabilizers for PEs.

Keywords: Cellulose nanocrystals; Formic acid; Para-toluenesulfonic acid; Pickering emulsion.

MeSH terms

Cellulose* / chemistry
Emulsions / chemistry
Nanoparticles* / chemistry
Peanut Oil
Sulfonic Acids
Toluene
Water / chemistry

Substances

Emulsions
Peanut Oil
Sulfonic Acids
Water
Toluene
Cellulose