Mid Sweden University

Although remarkable success has been made in the production of nanocellulose through several processing methods, it still remain a challenge to reduce the overall energy consumption, to use green chemistry and sustainable approach in order to make it feasible for industrial production of this novel nanomaterial. Herein, we have developed a new eco-friendly and sustainable approach to produce nanocellulose using organic acid combined with high-shear homogenisation, made hydrophobisation of nanocellulose and cross-linked the modified nanocellulosic material. Also, TEMPO-mediated oxidised nanocellulose was produced in order to compare the processing route with that of mild organic acid hydrolysis. Freeze-dried 3D structure of TEMPO-derived nanocellulose foam materials made fi-om bleached sulphite pulp and CTMP, respectively. Further, there is growing interest in using nanocellulose or microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) as an alternative paper sfrength additive in papermaking, and in using chemi-thermomechanical pulp (CTMP) with high freeness in producing CTMP-based paperboard with high bulk properties. To achieve greater strength improvement results, particularly for packaging paperboards, different proportions of cationic starch (CS) or MFC can be used to significantly improve the z-strength, with only a slight increase in sheet density. Research in this area is exploring CS or MFC as potential strength additives in CTMP-based paperboard, which is interesting from an industrial perspective. The mean grammage of the CTMP handsheets produced was approximately 150 g m~, and it was found that blending CTMP with CS or MFC yielded handsheets with significantly improved z-strength, tensile index, burst index and other strength properties at similar sheet densities.