Preparation of Water Redispersible Nanocellulose through Interfering Fibre-to-Fibre Interaction: the Effect of Adsorption of Water-Soluble Polysaccharides onto Fibre Surfaces

Nanocellulose serves as a promising candidate to replace petroleum-based materials due to their unique properties, e.g., high mechanical properties and biodegradability etc. However, the energy-intensive production process and high-water content of nanocellulose during transportation severely limits its application on a large scale. To address it, in this study, the effects of the addition of water-soluble polysaccharides (PS) on energy consumption and redispersibility of nanocellulose production were investigated here. Adding PS enables homogenization at a higher solid content of 1.5 wt% compared at a maximum of 0.4 wt% without adding PS. Nevertheless, the fibrillation degree of fibres was increased particularly when carboxymethylated-galactoglucomannan (cm-GGM) was used. The tensile strength and optical transmittance of the nanocellulose films obtained by a casting method increased to 116 MPa and 77% with added PS during homogenization compared to those of 62 MPa and 74% without PS, respectively. Redispersibility of thus-prepared nanocellulose was investigated in terms of size distribution, morphology, and redispersibility. Collectively, adding water-soluble polysaccharides, in particular cm-GGM, enables a promising large-volume production of redispersible nanocellulose at a high consistency with less energy-consumption.