High throughput disassembly of cellulose nanoribbons and colloidal stabilization of gel-like Pickering emulsions

Qingcheng Wang; Xinyu Zhang; Jing Tian; Chenyu Zheng; Mohammad Rizwan Khan; Jiaqi Guo; Wenyuan Zhu; Yongcan Jin; Huining Xiao; Junlong Song; Orlando J Rojas

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.121000

High throughput disassembly of cellulose nanoribbons and colloidal stabilization of gel-like Pickering emulsions

Carbohydr Polym. 2023 Sep 1:315:121000. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.121000. Epub 2023 May 12.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources and International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
² Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources and International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China; Bioproducts Institute, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of Chemistry and Department of Wood Science, University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.
³ Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources and International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China. Electronic address: jiaqi.guo@njfu.edu.cn.
⁵ Department of Chemical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB E3B 5A3, Canada.
⁶ Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources and International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China. Electronic address: junlong.song@njfu.edu.cn.
⁷ Bioproducts Institute, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of Chemistry and Department of Wood Science, University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada. Electronic address: orlando.rojas@ubc.ca.

PMID: 37230640
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.121000

Abstract

We introduce a strategy to disintegrate cellulose microfibrils present in the cell walls of plant fibers. The process includes impregnation and mild oxidation followed by ultrasonication, which loosens the hydrophilic planes of crystalline cellulose while preserving the hydrophobic ones. The resultant molecularly-sized cellulose structures (cellulose ribbons, CR) retain a length of the order of a micron (1.47 ± 0.48 μm, AFM). A very high axial aspect ratio is determined (at least 190), considering the CR height (0.62 ± 0.38 nm, AFM), corresponding to 1-2 cellulose chains, and width (7.64 ± 1.82 nm, TEM). The new molecularly-thin cellulose proposes excellent hydrophilicity and flexibility, enabling a remarkable viscosifying effect when dispersed in aqueous media (shear-thinning, zero shear viscosity of 6.3 × 10⁵ mPa·s). As such, CR suspensions readily develop into gel-like Pickering emulsions in the absence of crosslinking, suitable for direct ink writing at ultra-low solids content.

Keywords: Cellulose; Direct ink writing (DIW); Molecularly thin cellulose ribbons; Nanocellulose; Pickering emulsions.