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ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Cotton Chemistry and Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #353058
Research Project: Chemical Modification of Cotton for Value Added Applications

Location: Cotton Chemistry and Utilization Research

Title: Structural variations of cotton cellulose nanocrystals from deep eutectic solvent treatment: micro and nano scale

Author
item LING, ZHE - Beijing Forestry University
item Edwards, Judson - Vince
item GUO, ZONGWEI - Beijing Forestry University
item Prevost, Nicolette
item Nam, Sunghyun
item WU, QINGLIN - Louisiana State University Agcenter
item French, Alfred - Al
item XU, FENG - Beijing Forestry University

Submitted to: Cellulose
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/19/2019
Publication Date: 1/15/2019
Citation: Ling, Z., Edwards, J.V., Guo, Z., Prevost, N.T., Nam, S., Wu, Q., French, A.D., Xu, F. 2019. Structural variations of cotton cellulose nanocrystals from deep eutectic solvent treatment: micro and nano scale. Cellulose. 26(2):861-876. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-018-2092-9.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-018-2092-9

Interpretive Summary: In this work, cotton cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were fabricated by choline chloride/oxalic acid based deep eutectic solvent (DES) with various proportions and temperature. Chemical information, morphology and crystalline structure were characterized for both micro-sized cellulose fibers and nano-sized CNCs. Distinctive alternations of crystallite size and d-spacings for each lattice planes were revealed to explain the supramolecular variations during the procedure, which may help to understand the mechanism of CNC processing by the eco-friendly DES treatment.

Technical Abstract: The exploration of appealing solvents for making cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) as well as the mechanisms of cellulose fibrillation are of much interest. In this work, CNCs were fabricated at 80 ' and 100 ' using choline chloride/oxalic acid-based deep eutectic solvents (DESs) having various proportions. Chemical information, morphology and crystalline structure were determined for both micro-sized treated cellulose fibers and nano-sized CNCs. Oxalic acid helped to form carboxyl groups on the C6 position of hydrophilic (1-10) lattice planes, leading to great fibrillation of cellulose and disruption of surface layers on (110) and (200) planes. Lower crystallinity and lamellar structures for CNCs with mild treatment were achieved after the mechanical disintegration and subsequent lyophilization due to distinctive arrangements of cellulose molecules on the surfaces. The characterization of cellulose superamolecular structure may reveal a new understanding of CNCs fabrication via DES treatment which will also facilitate their further processing and utilization.