A comparative study of Eucalyptus and Pinus radiata pulp fibres as raw materials for production of cellulose nanofibrils

This work comprises a comparison between Eucalyptus and Pinus radiata pulp fibres, as raw materials for producing nanofibrils. The cellulose nanofibrils were produced mechanically and chemi-mechanically. Series of the fibres were subjected to a TEMPO mediated oxidation to facilitate the homogenization. The contents of carboxyl acids after the pre-treatment indicated a favourable situation for producing nanofibrils using Eucalyptus pulp fibres as raw material. However, films made of P. radiata-based nanofibrils evidenced less shrinkage and higher transparency levels, which were related to a higher fibrillation of the pulp fibres. The energy consumption during homogenization was quantified. The results demonstrated that for a given number of passes through the homogenizator, TEMPO pre-treatment will facilitate the homogeneous fibrillation of a given fibre. This implies that less energy is required for producing nanofibrils with homogeneous sizes.