Enhanced Morphological Characterization of Cellulose Nano/Microfibers through Image Skeleton Analysis

The present paper proposes a novel approach for the morphological characterization of cellulose nano and microfibers suspensions (CMF/CNFs) based on the analysis of eroded CMF/CNF microscopy images. This approach offers a detailed morphological characterization and quantification of the micro and na...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Sánchez Salvador, José Luis, Campano Tiedra, Cristina, López Expósito, Patricio, Tarrés, Quim, Mutjé, Pere, Delgado Aguilar, Marc, Monte Lara, María Concepción, Blanco Suárez, María Ángeles
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/7216
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/7216
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:66.0
Cellulose nanofibers
Gel point
Image skeleton analysis
Microscopy
Morphology
Nanocellulose
Quality control
Industria del papel
Ingeniería química
3312.13 Tecnología de la Madera
3303 Ingeniería y Tecnología Químicas
Descripción
Sumario:The present paper proposes a novel approach for the morphological characterization of cellulose nano and microfibers suspensions (CMF/CNFs) based on the analysis of eroded CMF/CNF microscopy images. This approach offers a detailed morphological characterization and quantification of the micro and nanofibers networks present in the product, which allows the mode of fibrillation associated to the different CMF/CNF extraction conditions to be discerned. This information is needed to control CMF/CNF quality during industrial production. Five cellulose raw materials, from wood and non-wood sources, were subjected to mechanical, enzymatic, and (2,2,6,6-Tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl)oxyl (TEMPO)-mediated oxidative pre-treatments followed by different homogenization sequences to obtain products of different morphologies. Skeleton analysis of microscopy images provided in-depth morphological information of CMF/CNFs that, complemented with aspect ratio information, estimated from gel point data, allowed the quantification of: (i) fibers peeling after mechanical pretreatment; (ii) fibers shortening induced by enzymes, and (iii) CMF/CNF entanglement from TEMPO-mediated oxidation. Being mostly based on optical microscopy and image analysis, the present method is easy to implement at industrial scale as a tool to monitor and control CMF/CNF quality and homogeneity.