Recent Progress in Cellulose Dissolution and Regeneration

A special issue of Fibers (ISSN 2079-6439).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 June 2021) | Viewed by 19800

Special Issue Editor

Fiber and Biopolymer Research Instutute, Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79403, USA
Interests: cotton fibers physical and chemical properties; cellulose; dissolution; functionalization; FTIR microspectroscopy; smart textiles
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I would like to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue focused on cellulose dissolution. Cellulose is the most abundant and renewable biopolymer on earth (1×1010 tons per year). Plants (trees, cotton and crop wastes), bacteria, algae, and tunicates are the main source of cellulose. The presence of fee hydroxyl groups combined with a high molecular weight and degree of polymerization lead to an extensive network of intramolecular and intermolecular hydrogen bondings. This leads to regions of well crystalline cellulose and regions of amorphous cellulose. Cellulose is insoluble in most common solvents. The increased interest in transforming cellulose to advanced bioproducts has created the need to dissolve and regenerate cellulose in various solvent systems, specifically ionic liquids. The effective dissolution of cellulosic macromolecules is the first predominant step to prepare functional bio-based materials with tunable and desirable properties.

The current Special Issue is intended to summarize the state of the art of the current knowledge of cellulose dissolution and regeneration. Papers are sought on the mechanisms of cellulose dissolution and solvents (such as ionic liquids), chemistry of solvents, cellulose–solvent interactions, rheology of cellulose solution, techniques used to investigate the dissolution, materials formed and their characterization and applications. Papers can be either original research or reviews of the current research.

Prof. Dr. Noureddine Abidi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fibers is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Cellulose
  • Dissolution 
  • Ionic liquid 
  • Regenerated fiber 
  • Biopolymers 
  • Renewable resources

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2920 KiB  
Article
Cellulose Dissolution in Ionic Liquid under Mild Conditions: Effect of Hydrolysis and Temperature
by Sanjit Acharya, Yang Hu and Noureddine Abidi
Fibers 2021, 9(1), 5; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fib9010005 - 06 Jan 2021
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3582
Abstract
This study investigated the effect of acid hydrolysis of cellulose on its dissolution under mild conditions in ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate/N,N-dimethylacetamide (BMIMAc/DMAc). Acid hydrolysis of high molecular weight (MW) cotton cellulose (DP > 4000) was carried out to produce hydrolyzed cotton (HC) samples [...] Read more.
This study investigated the effect of acid hydrolysis of cellulose on its dissolution under mild conditions in ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate/N,N-dimethylacetamide (BMIMAc/DMAc). Acid hydrolysis of high molecular weight (MW) cotton cellulose (DP > 4000) was carried out to produce hydrolyzed cotton (HC) samples for dissolution. The HC samples were characterized using gel permeation chromatography (GPC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and the dissolution process was monitored using polarized light microscopy (PLM). It was found that the drastic decrease of the MW of cellulose did not result in improvement of its dissolution at room temperature. As compared to original cotton cellulose, the high amount of undissolved fibers in HC solutions led to unstable rheological behavior of HC solutions. Agglomeration and inhomogeneous dispersion of HC, and increased crystallinity, in this case, likely made the diffusion of BMIMAc/DMAc more difficult to the inside of the polymeric network of cellulose at ambient temperature, thereby hindering the dissolution. However, increasing the temperature from room temperature to 35 °C and 55 °C, led to a significant improvement in cellulose dissolution. This phenomenon implies that reducing the MW of cellulose might not be able to improve its dissolution under certain conditions. During the dissolution process, the physical properties of cellulose including fiber aggregation status, solvent diffusivity, and cellulose crystallinity may play a critical role compared to the MW, while the MW may not be an important factor. This finding may help further understand the mechanism of cellulose dissolution and seek better strategies to dissolve cellulose under mild conditions for industrial applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Progress in Cellulose Dissolution and Regeneration)
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14 pages, 3061 KiB  
Article
Cotton Cellulose-CdTe Quantum Dots Composite Films with Inhibition of Biofilm-Forming S. aureus
by Rohan S. Dassanayake, Poorna T. Wansapura, Phat Tran, Abdul Hamood and Noureddine Abidi
Fibers 2019, 7(6), 57; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fib7060057 - 19 Jun 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5639
Abstract
A cellulose-cadmium (Cd)-tellurium (TE) quantum dots (QDs) composite film was successfully synthesized by incorporating CdTe QDs onto a cellulose matrix derived from waste cotton linters. Cellulose-CdTe QDs composite film was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, [...] Read more.
A cellulose-cadmium (Cd)-tellurium (TE) quantum dots (QDs) composite film was successfully synthesized by incorporating CdTe QDs onto a cellulose matrix derived from waste cotton linters. Cellulose-CdTe QDs composite film was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The antibacterial activity of the prepared composite film was investigated using the multidrug-resistance (MTR) Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. In vitro antibacterial assays demonstrated that CdTe QDs composite film can efficiently inhibit biofilm formation. Our results showed that the cellulose-CdTe QDs composite film is a promising candidate for biomedical applications including wound dressing, medical instruments, burn treatments, implants, and other biotechnology fields. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Progress in Cellulose Dissolution and Regeneration)
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10 pages, 3272 KiB  
Article
Cellulose Nanofibers Preparation from Cassava Peels via Mechanical Disruption
by Sonny Widiarto, Edi Pramono, Suharso, Achmad Rochliadi and I Made Arcana
Fibers 2019, 7(5), 44; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/fib7050044 - 15 May 2019
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 9709
Abstract
In this study, cellulose and cellulose nanofibers (CNF) were extracted and prepared from cassava peels (CPs). The method of the cellulose extraction was performed by alkali treatment followed by a bleaching process. The CNF were prepared by mechanical disruption procedure (homogenization and ultrasonication), [...] Read more.
In this study, cellulose and cellulose nanofibers (CNF) were extracted and prepared from cassava peels (CPs). The method of the cellulose extraction was performed by alkali treatment followed by a bleaching process. The CNF were prepared by mechanical disruption procedure (homogenization and ultrasonication), and the results were compared with a common acid hydrolysis procedure. The resulting cellulose and CNF from both procedures were then analyzed using FTIR, SEM, TEM, XRD, and TGA. The results show that cellulose and CNF were successfully prepared from both procedures. The physical properties of the produced CNF were different; however, they had similar chemical properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Progress in Cellulose Dissolution and Regeneration)
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