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2025 Vol.57, Issue 5

Original Paper

Effect of Carboxymethylation Pretreatment and Mechanical Fibrillation on Cellulose Nanofiber Dimensions
Woo-Yong Song1
,
Soo-Jeong Shin2†
,
Rahmini3‡
1Department of Wood and Paper Science, Chungbuk National University, Graduate Student
2Department of Wood and Paper Science, Chungbuk National University, Professor
3Faculty of Forestry, Mulawarman University, Researcher
†Corresponding Author: E-mail: soojshin@chungubk.ac.kr (Address: Department of Wood and Paper Science, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, 28644, Republic of Korea)
‡Corresponding Author: E-mail: rahmini252@gmail.com (Address: Faculty of Forestry, Mulawarman University, Samarinda, 75119, Republic of Indonesia)
30 October 2025. pp. 5-13
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Abstract

Cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) are suitable for numerous industrial applications owing to their diverse propertheir potential as alternatives to petroleum-based products, their widespread adoption is hindered by the challenge of tailoring their specific properties. To address this, this study was conducted to investigate how carboxymethylation pretreatment and mechanical fibrillation influence CNF morphology. To do this, the CNF degree of substitution (DS) during carboxymethylation was controlled from 0.1 to 0.6, after which its effects on CNF dimensions were analyzed by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and transmicroscopy. The results revealed that the CNF width decreased progressively as the DS was increased, with the length decreasing significantly at DS ≥ 0.5, which was attributed to enhanced anionic repulsion. Notably, a 0.2 DS only caused a decrease in the width, whereas a DS of 0.4 marked a transition where both dimensions were affected. Notably, at a DS of 0.6, the width and length of CNFs decreased substantially. Overall, these findings highlight the critical roles of DS and mechanical fibrillation in tailoring CNF morphology for specific applications.

Keywords
Cellulose nanofiber
carboxymethylation
degree of substitution
1H-NMR spectroscopy
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Information
  • Publisher :Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
  • Publisher(Ko) :한국펄프종이공학회
  • Journal Title :Journal of Korea TAPPI
  • Journal Title(Ko) :펄프종이기술
  • Volume : 57
  • No :5
  • Pages :5-13
  • Received Date : 2025-08-27
  • Revised Date : 2025-09-22
  • Accepted Date : 2025-09-22
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.7584/JKTAPPI.2025.10.57.5.5
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