Citrated cellulose nanocrystals from post-consumer cotton textilesShow others and affiliations
2023 (English)In: Journal of Materials Chemistry A, ISSN 2050-7488, E-ISSN 2050-7496, Vol. 11, no 13, p. 6854-6868Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
We propose a new method for the extraction of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) from post-consumer cotton textiles through surface functionalization followed by mechanical treatment. Cotton-based textiles were esterified using an 85 wt% solution of citric acid at 100 °C, then further fibrillated in a microfluidizer. The final product, citrated cellulose nanocrystals (CitCNCs), was a dispersion of needle-like nanoparticles with high crystallinity. Up to 78 wt% of the cotton fabric was converted to CitCNCs that exhibited higher yields and a higher surface group content than CNCs extracted through H2SO4 hydrolysis, although CitCNCs showed a broader size distribution and decreased thermal stability. Experimental data supported by DFT calculations showed that the carboxyl groups on the CitCNC surface are bonded to cellulose by mono or diester linkages. An early-stage life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed to evaluate the environmental impact of using discarded textiles as a source of cellulose and analyze the environmental performance of the production of CitCNCs. Our work showed a significant reduction in the environmental burden of CNC extraction using post-consumer cotton instead of wood pulp, making clothing a good feedstock. The environmental impact of CitCNC production was mainly dominated by citric acid. As a proof of concept, around 58 wt% of the citric acid was recovered through evaporation and subsequent crystallization, which could reduce climate impact by 40%. With this work, we introduce a catalyst-free route to valorize textiles with the extraction of CitCNCs and how conducting LCA in laboratory-scale processes might guide future development and optimization.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Royal Society of Chemistry , 2023. Vol. 11, no 13, p. 6854-6868
Keywords [en]
Cellulose, Cellulose derivatives, Cotton, Crystallinity, Environmental impact, Environmental management, Extraction, Life cycle, Nanocrystals, Pulp materials, Textile fibers, Textiles, Wood products, Broad size distribution, Cotton textiles, High crystallinity, Higher yield, Mechanical treatments, Microfluidizers, Needle-like, Post-consumer, Surface Functionalization, Surface groups, Citric acid
National Category
Engineering and Technology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-64705DOI: 10.1039/d2ta09456hScopus ID: 2-s2.0-85150023395OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-64705DiVA, id: diva2:1756873
Note
Funding details: Stiftelsen för Miljöstrategisk Forskning, 2018/11; Funding details: Technische Universität München, TUM; Funding text 1: The authors thank the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (Mistra: project Mistra SafeChem, project number 2018/11) and Formas 2021-00440 for financial support. This research was also partially sponsored by XPRES (Centre of Excellence in Production Research) - a strategic research area in Sweden. Open-access publication was funded by Stockholm University Library. The authors would like to thank Wargön Innovation for providing textile samples, Marlene Viertler from the Technical University of Munich for the acquisition of SEM images, and Dr Tamara Church for fruitful discussions. This work was part of the Academy of Finland Flagship Programme Competence Center for Materials Bioeconomy, FinnCERES.; Funding text 2: The authors thank the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (Mistra: project Mistra SafeChem, project number 2018/11) and Formas 2021-00440 for financial support. This research was also partially sponsored by XPRES (Centre of Excellence in Production Research) – a strategic research area in Sweden. Open-access publication was funded by Stockholm University Library. The authors would like to thank Wargön Innovation for providing textile samples, Marlene Viertler from the Technical University of Munich for the acquisition of SEM images, and Dr Tamara Church for fruitful discussions. This work was part of the Academy of Finland Flagship Programme Competence Center for Materials Bioeconomy, FinnCERES.
2023-05-152023-05-152024-05-21Bibliographically approved