Title
Fabrication and characterization of cellulose nanofibers from recycled and native cellulose resources using TEMPO oxidation
Authors
LE VAN HAI ABDULLAHIL KAFY LINDONG ZHAI JUNG WOONG KIM RUTH MWONGELI MUTHOKA and JAEHWAN KIM

Received October 15, 2016
Published Volume 52 Issue 3-4 March-April
Keywords cellulose nanofibers, TEMPO oxidation, recycled deinked paper, cotton linter, ash content

Abstract
Cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) were fabricated from different cellulose resources, namely, native hardwood (HW), cotton linter (CO) and recycled deinked paper (DIP),using the TEMPO oxidation method. The CNF properties were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and CNF yield. The width of CNFs was in the range of 20-30 nm. The CNFs showed lower thermal degradation than the initial cellulose resources. The CNFs isolated from DIP showed the highest thermal degradation among the prepared CNFs. Recycled deinked paper could be a potential source for CNFs, offering the advantages of comparatively good thermal stability, environmental friendliness and resource recycling. XRD and FT-IR investigations confirmed that the filler content in the recycled DIP was calcium carbonate. The ash contents of DIP, CO and HW were of 19.24%, 0.06% and 0.10%, respectively. The high ash content contributed to the high thermal stability of DIP. Additionally, HW exhibited the highest CNF yield, compared with DIP and CO.