Non-woody plants as raw materials for production of microfibrillated cellulose (MFC): A comparative study

The extraction of microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) from fibres of several non-woody plants (basts of flax, hemp, jute, leaves of sisal and abaca) has been explored. MFC was isolated using high pressure homogenization process at a pressure lower than 600 bar. Fibres extracted from the plants by alkaline pulping process were first bleached and submitted to TEMPO-mediated oxidation to facilitate the fibrillation process. Evidence of the successful isolation of nanofibrils was given by FE-SEM observation revealing fibrils with a width in the 20 up to 50 nm range, depending on the fibres origin. Particular attention was paid to characterize the ensuing MFC using different physical methods (DP, transparency degree, DRX) to enable a comparative analysis of the nanofibrils properties, and evaluate the ease of fibrillation. From this investigation, it seems that the fibres with the highest content in hemicelluloses led to the highest yield in MFC.

► Microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) from several non-woody plants was prepared.
► The non-woody plants were basts of flax, hemp, jute sisal and abaca.
► The MFC was characterized in term of its morphology, optical transparency and crystallinity.
► The cellulose microfibrils can be more easily released from leaf fibres than from bast fibres.