Water-soluble polysaccharides promoting production of redispersible nanocellulose

To date, the energy-intensive production and high-water content severely limits nanocellulose applications on a large scale off-site. In this study, adding water-soluble polysaccharides (PS) to achieve an integrated process of water-redispersible nanocellulose production was well established. The addition of PS, in particular carboxymethylated-galactoglucomannan (cm-GGM), facilitates fibre fibrillation enabling homogenization at a higher solid content at 1.5 wt% compared with around 0.4 wt% for neat fibre. More importantly, the addition of cm-GGM saved 73 % energy in comparison without PS addition. Good water redispersibility of thus-prepared nanocellulose was validated in viewpoints of size distribution, morphology, viscosity and film properties as compared with neat nanocellulose. The tensile strength and optical transmittance of nanocellulose films increased to 116 MPa and 77 % compared to those without PS addition of 62 MPa and 74 %, respectively. Collectively, this study provides a new avenue for large-volume production of redispersible nanocellulose at a high solid content with less energy-consumption.