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Morphological evolution of curauá fibers under acid hydrolysis

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Abstract

Cellulose whiskers were obtained by means of sulfuric acid hydrolysis of curauá fibers. Before hydrolysis, the natural fibers were treated with an alkaline solution to remove the non-cellulosic content. Fiber degradation evolution and cellulose whisker formation were analyzed by structural and morphological analysis. The original fiber structure underwent a fragmentation mechanism after being exposed for 3 min to sulfuric acid. Cellulose whiskers were lixiviated from the fiber surface after 10 min of hydrolysis, developing two scenarios: one where the whiskers became unattached from the original fiber, and the other which remained attached. The cellulose whiskers presented a needle-like geometry with an approximate diameter of 11 nm and average length of 185 nm, after 30 min of acid hydrolysis. Based on microscopic characterization, a schematic representation of the morphological evolution of the cellulose fibers submitted to acid hydrolysis is proposed.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) (Brazil) through Inomat, National Institute (INCT) for Complex Functional Materials. The authors would also like to thank Prof. Marco-Aurélio De Paoli for the curauá fiber donation.

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  1. Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), P. O. Box 6154, Campinas, SP, Brazil

    Marcia de Oliveira Taipina, Marcia Maria Favaro Ferrarezi & Maria do Carmo Gonçalves

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  1. Marcia de Oliveira Taipina
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  2. Marcia Maria Favaro Ferrarezi
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  3. Maria do Carmo Gonçalves
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Correspondence to Maria do Carmo Gonçalves.

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de Oliveira Taipina, M., Ferrarezi, M.M.F. & Gonçalves, M.C. Morphological evolution of curauá fibers under acid hydrolysis. Cellulose 19, 1199–1207 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-012-9715-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-012-9715-3

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