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Journals
Processes
Special Issues
Green Synthesis and Functionalization of Cellulose Fibers
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Green Synthesis and Functionalization of Cellulose Fibers

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Processes".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2020) | Viewed by 14595

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Levente Csoka

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Cellulose and Paper Technology, Celltech-paper Ltd., 9400 Sopron, Hungary
Interests: cellulose; biomacromolecular materials and technologies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Charu Agarwal

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Innovation Center, University of Sopron, 9400 Sopron, Hungary
Interests: green chemistry; biomass extraction; sustainable polymers; bionanotechnology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Being the most abundant natural biopolymer on earth, cellulose has been vastly exploited in a range of applications, from writing paper to high-end biosensors. Natural cellulose fibers can be isolated from wood or non-woody plants such as hemp, jute, flax, and bamboo and cellulose fibrils can be obtained from bacteria by chemical or mechanical treatments and purification methods. To make it suitable for targeted applications, cellulose fibers and fibrils are modified with functional moieties. Cellulose has been functionalized with noble metals for catalysis and antimicrobial applications. The porosity, hydrophilicity, and roughness of the cellulose surface make it an ideal substrate for a plethora of applications. Further, it can be made into a lightweight, portable, foldable, and disposable device, which provides an excellent platform for various point-of-care purposes. Cellulose fibers have also been immobilized with carbon nanomaterials and for optical applications with spin-crossover nanoparticles, others with many enzymes, macromolecules, and some polymers have been used to modify natural cellulose for specific end uses. This Special Issue focuses on recent developments in green synthesis modification or immobilization of functional materials in cellulose fibers and fibrils obtained from wood or plant sources or from bacterial origin.

In particular, the topics of interest include, but are not limited to the following:

Functionalization:

  • with green synthesized metals
  • with green synthesized metal oxides
  • with green synthesized quantum dots
  • with green synthesized biomolecules/polymers
  • with green synthesized carbon materials

Prof. Dr. Levente Csoka
Dr. Charu Agarwal
Guest Editors

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. Processes 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 2400 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.

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 1855 KiB  
Article
A Novel Approach Using Conventional Methodologies to Scale up BNC Production Using Komagataeibacter medellinensis and Rotten Banana Waste as Alternative
by Carlos Molina-Ramírez, Juan Álvarez, Robin Zuluaga, Cristina Castro and Piedad Gañán
Processes 2020, 8(11), 1469; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr8111469 - 16 Nov 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2661
Abstract
Currently, cellulose nanostructures are among the most promising structures, and extensive work in materials and biotechnology industries is aimed at identifying an efficient process of production. Even when production at the laboratory scale is successful, crucial aspects of increased commercial applications for cellulose [...] Read more.
Currently, cellulose nanostructures are among the most promising structures, and extensive work in materials and biotechnology industries is aimed at identifying an efficient process of production. Even when production at the laboratory scale is successful, crucial aspects of increased commercial applications for cellulose nanostructures are linked to large-scale production. Large-scale production requires a balance between the cost of the culture medium and product value. Therefore, in this work, for the optimization and scaling up of bacterial nanocellulose, a culture medium consisting of rotten banana unsuitable for human consumption was used for the first time as an inexpensive feedstock. Initially, the bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) culture medium conditions were optimized, and it was established that a glucose concentration of 26.4 g/L and a V/A ratio of 2.2 cm were the optimal conditions for production reaching a BNC yield of 5 g/L, which was 42.4% higher than the best result initially obtained. Finally, the scale-up process was performed, implementing a regime analysis methodology by comparing the characteristic times of the critical mechanisms involved in BNC production, namely, microbial growth, glucose consumption, BNC production, and glucose diffusion into the BNC membrane, as the first approach for this type of BNC production process. The mechanism underlying the BNC production process is glucose diffusion into the BNC membrane (characteristic time, 675.47 h). Thus, the V/A ratio was selected as the scale-up criterion most suitable for producing BNC under static culture conditions, allowing the production of 16 g of BNC after 12 d of fermentation in a plastic bioreactor, which was 3378% higher than that produced in glass vessels. The results obtained in this study may initiate further improvements in BNC commercial production by exploiting different feedstocks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Synthesis and Functionalization of Cellulose Fibers)
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12 pages, 3691 KiB  
Article
Effect of Regenerated Cellulose Fibers Derived from Black Oat on Functional Properties of PVA-Based Biocomposite Film
by Naresh Shahi, Gautam Joshi and Byungjin Min
Processes 2020, 8(9), 1149; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr8091149 - 14 Sep 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4922
Abstract
In this study, agricultural residue from black oat, a cover crop usually grown to improve soil nutrients between the periods of regular crop production, was used as a source of cellulose fibers. Concentrations of 1, 3, and 5 wt. % of regenerated cellulose [...] Read more.
In this study, agricultural residue from black oat, a cover crop usually grown to improve soil nutrients between the periods of regular crop production, was used as a source of cellulose fibers. Concentrations of 1, 3, and 5 wt. % of regenerated cellulose (RC) fibers blended in poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) solution were used to prepare the reinforced composite films (CFs) by the solvent cast method. Compared to neat PVA film (control), the effects of RC addition on functional properties of CFs, such as water absorption, transparency, thermal stability, and mechanical property were investigated. All CFs with different RC concentrations exhibited improved mechanical property and thermal stability while the swelling property was decreased, and no significant changes were observed in the film transparency as compared with the control film. Among the CFs, films with 3% RC significantly decreased water vapor transmission rate, swelling, and soluble fraction (p < 0.05). In addition, Young’s modulus and tensile strength were increased by 40 MPa and 3 MPa, respectively, while elongation at break was decreased by 4%, compared to the control film. The results indicate that RC from black oat might be feasible as potential bio fillers to improve film properties in a bio-based composite matrix. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Synthesis and Functionalization of Cellulose Fibers)
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14 pages, 4063 KiB  
Article
Effect of Purification Methods on Commercially Available Cellulose Nanocrystal Properties and TEMPO Oxidation
by Manali Banerjee, Sisira Saraswatula, Anna Williams and Blair Brettmann
Processes 2020, 8(6), 698; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr8060698 - 16 Jun 2020
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 6272
Abstract
Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are attractive for use in polymer composites, biomedical applications, and barrier packaging. In all of these applications they are mixed with other components and compatibility is a major design consideration, as CNCs naturally have a high density of surface hydroxyl [...] Read more.
Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are attractive for use in polymer composites, biomedical applications, and barrier packaging. In all of these applications they are mixed with other components and compatibility is a major design consideration, as CNCs naturally have a high density of surface hydroxyl groups and primarily disperse well in polar media. Numerous surface modification approaches have been used to address these issues, but challenges remain due to the variability in the commercially available CNC materials. CNCs can be produced from biomass using several extraction methods, most notably acid hydrolysis and biomass extraction, also known as the American Value Added Pulping process. The production method of the CNC material has an impact on both physical and surface properties of CNCs, including size, shape, crystal structure, and zeta potential. In addition, post-treatments can be used to purify the CNC material and further alter these properties. This work studies the properties of CNCs from three different commercial suppliers and after conducting three different post-treatments: dialysis, Soxhlet extraction, and acetone washing to understand the effect of the commercial source and purification on CNC surface properties and modification via 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radical (TEMPO) mediated oxidation. We show that there is significant variation in CNC physical and surface properties between different commercial suppliers before and after purification. Importantly, we show that for CNCs produced through acid hydrolysis, acetone washing or Soxhlet extraction in ethanol decreases the achievable degree of TEMPO modification, but makes it more consistent between the different commercial suppliers. This has important implications for improving reproducibility in CNC research as well as aiding the expanding fields of applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Synthesis and Functionalization of Cellulose Fibers)
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