• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.68-74
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• 2016

Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) was prepared from cotton linter after electron beam irradiation to investigate its effects on the manufacturing efficiency of the NFC preparation and the property changes by the treatment. Mechanical device (Super Masscolloider) was used to prepare the NFC and its passing frequency for each NFC preparation was recorded. More electron beam irradiation resulted in less passing frequency. Alpha cellulose content, molecular weight, crystallinity index, and thermal decomposition behavior of each treatment were lowered by electron beam treatment (10 and 100 kGy) and grinding process. NFC films were prepared to investigate their mechanical properties. There were little changes in tensile properties of the NFC films.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.35-41
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• 2013

In this study, we investigated the effect of the number of passes through agrinder on the pore characteristics of nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) mat. The beaten pulp suspension was used to make NFC suspension using a grinder. To evaluate the pore characteristics of a NFC mat, the surface morphology of the dried NFC mat was observed with FE-SEM and the specific surface area was analyzed with BET nitrogen gas adsorption. The structure of NFC mat was changed with the different number of passes and drying methods. The specific surface area of NFC mat increased with the increase in the number of passes. The 20-passed NFC mat had 20 times larger specific surface area ($141m^2/g$) compared to the 0-passed NFC mat. The specific surface area was strongly correlated with the average pore size in NFC mat. The average pore diameter in NFC mat was calculated from the gas sorption isotherms using BJH model. The value was 13 - 15 nm, indicating that the NFC mat had mesoporous structure.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.46-55
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• 2014

In this study, we modified the surface of nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) through LbL (Layer-by-Layer) multilayering process with polyelectrolytes and investigated the effects of the NFC modification on the charge of NFC surface and the dewatering ability of NFC suspension. The multilayering process was done onto NFC fibers using polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC) and poly-sodium 4-styrene sulfonate (PSS) under different dosage and washing conditions. When the washing was carried out in every adsorption stage, the modified NFC had strong cationic or anionic charge depending on the type of polyelectrolyte in the outermost layer and the dewatering ability was not affected. In the case of no washing treatment or washing in the final adsorption stage, however, the zeta potential of NFC was close to an isoelectric point so that the dewatering ability increased remarkably. Low addition level of polyelectrolytes also showed the similar results. The mixing of NFC suspensions with opposite charge resulted in higher network strength and improved dewatering ability due to the flocculation.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.5-18
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• 2016

Electron microscopy is an important investigation and analytical method for the morphological characterization of various cellulosic materials, such as micro-crystalline cellulose (MCC), microfibrillated cellulose (MFC), nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC), and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC). However, more accurate morphological analysis requires high-quality micrographs acquired from the proper use of an electron microscope and associated sample preparation methods. Understanding the interaction of electron and matter as well as the importance of sample preparation methods, including drying and staining methods, enables the production of high quality images with adequate information on the nanocellulosic materials. This paper provides a brief overview of the micro and nano structural analysis of cellulose, as investigated using transmission and scanning electron microscopy.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.57-65
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• 2015

Microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) or Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) has been used to reduce the use of raw pulp and to improve paper strength. The problem of MFC preparation is high manufacturing cost. In this study, it was carried out to prepare MFC after enzyme beating and estimated properties of MFC. Endo-D was the best beating efficiency among three type of endo-glucanase. As the grinder pass number increased, the viscosity and the fines of MFC suspension increased while the crystallinity and the porosity of MFC sheet decreased. Also enzyme beating MFC was higher value in the crystallinity and lower value in the viscosity than non-enzyme MFC. In addition, the aspect ratio of MFC was the highest at 5 pass. MFC addition improved the handsheet strength and the air permeability but worsened the drainage.