A low-cost environmentally friendly approach to isolate lignin containing micro and nanofibrillated cellulose from Eucalyptus globulus bark by steam explosion

Micro- and Nano-Fibrillated Cellulose (MNFC) have gained increasing attention due to their remarkable properties, but production usually requires an intensive multi-step process. This study proposes find a novel approach involving steam explosion for the of lignin-containing micro- nano-fibrillated cellulose (L-MNFC) using Eucalyptus globulus bark as new lignocellulosic feedstock. was first pre-treated by in alkaline conditions (200 °C, 8 min) or soda cooking rotating autoclave (170 60 min), refined then ground until gels formed. The chemical composition pulps studied with ion chromatography FTIR-ATR. morphology products measurements suspension turbidity Morfi Neo, optical atomic force microscopies. Nanopapers were produced from L-MNFC investigate mechanical properties. Results obtained showed that slightly higher lignin content (≈ 9%), containing shorter fibers 400 µm) amounts fines 86%) compared 5%, ≈ 560 µm 66%, respectively). AFM images SteamEx web-like structure nanoparticles.