Deaggregation of cellulose macrofibrils and its effect on bound water.

The purpose of this study was to determine how to control and measure the hierarchical swelling in pulp fibers via electrostatic interactions and localized osmotic pressure. A eutectic solvent system was used to systematically increase phosphate groups in the cell wall. Increase in fiber charge led to an increase in swelling properties, as expected.

Mapping Nanocellulose- and Alginate-Based Photosynthetic Cell Factory Scaffolds: Interlinking Porosity, Wet Strength, and Gas Exchange.

To develop efficient solid-state photosynthetic cell factories for sustainable chemical production, we present an interdisciplinary experimental toolbox to investigate and interlink the structure, operative stability, and gas transfer properties of alginate- and nanocellulose-based hydrogel matrices with entrapped wild-type PCC 6803 cyanobacteria. We created a rheological map based on the mechanical performance of the hydrogel matrices. The results highlighted the importance of Ca-cross-linking and showed that nanocellulose matrices possess higher yield properties, and alginate matrices possess higher rest properties.

The Influence of Physical Mixing and Impregnation on the Physicochemical Properties of Pine Wood Activated Carbon Produced by One-Step ZnCl Activation.

In this study, two different sample preparation methods to synthesize activated carbon from pine wood were compared. The pine wood activated carbon was prepared by mixing ZnCl by physical mixing, i.e.

Effect of enzymatic treatment on Eucalyptus globulus vessels passivation.

Hardwood vessel elements generate problems in industrial uncoated wood-free printing paper operation, causing vessel picking and ink refusal. These problems are mitigated using mechanical refining at the cost of paper quality. Vessel enzymatic passivation, altering its adhesion to the fiber network and reducing its hydrophobicity is a way of improving paper quality.

Tuning the Porosity, Water Interaction, and Redispersion of Nanocellulose Hydrogels by Osmotic Dehydration.

Osmotic dehydration (OD) was introduced as a method to reproducibly tune the water content and porosity of cellulose nanofiber (CNF) hydrogels. The hierarchical porosity was followed by electron microscopy (pores with a >100 μm diameter) and thermoporosimetry (mesopores), together with mechanical testing, in hydrogels with solid contents ranging from 0.7 to 12 wt %.

Willow Bark for Sustainable Energy Storage Systems.

Willow bark is a byproduct from forestry and is obtained at an industrial scale. We upcycled this byproduct in a two-step procedure into sustainable electrode materials for symmetrical supercapacitors using organic electrolytes. The procedure employed precarbonization followed by carbonization using different types of KOH activation protocols.