Comparison of the Thermal Degradation Properties of Crystalline and Amorphous Cellulose, as well as Treated Lignocellulosic Biomass

Abstract

Thermo-gravimetric analyses of three cellulosic substances, namely, microcrystalline and amorphous cellulose, and treated Japanese cypress (JC) sawdust were carried out in this study. The thermal degradation temperature of crystalline cellulose decreased with increasing ball-milling time, while that of amorphous cellulose barely changed. However, small differences in the derivative thermo-gravimetric (DTG) curves between crystalline cellulose (i.e., before ball milling) and amorphous cellulose (i.e., after ball milling) were observed. The DTG curves of high-crystalline cellulose were sharp and similar to those of low-crystalline samples. The thermal degradation temperature of JC was decreased by ball milling, and its DTG peak shape became broad and low. These effects could be caused by the denaturing of non-cellulosic substances such as hemicellulose and lignin. The thermal degradation behaviors revealed by the DTG curves may serve as indicators of crystalline cellulose purity and other physical properties of lignocellulosic biomass.

Chemical–physical and dynamical–mechanical characterization on Spartium junceum L. cellulosic fiber treated with softener agents: a preliminary investigation

“…7 ), showing the same three transitions at similar temperature values; the TG curves similarity confirms that the softeners used do not chemically modify the polymer. Indeed, as already observed by Hideno 37 , the thermal behaviour of amorphous cellulose is comparable to that of crystalline cellulose. However, slight variations in the onset temperature (T onset ) and in the transition temperature range relative to the second and third transitions are present (Table 3 and S2 ).…”

“…Then, the greater structural homogeneity of the treated samples, presenting reduced separation between amorphous and crystalline areas, could be responsible of the faster second thermal process. Moreover, in the thermal curves of the treated fibers, the DTG peak relative to this transition appears more intense, thus associated to weight loss between 0.7–4.1% greater than the raw fiber; in addition, this peak appears sharper than that observed for the more crystalline pristine fiber, as already reported by Hideno 37 . These findings indicate an increased thermal susceptibility of the softened samples, probably due to a reduction of hydrogen bonds and Van der Waals interactions, in agreement with the PXRD analysis results.…”

Transparent and Robust All-Cellulose Nanocomposite Packaging Materials Prepared in a Mixture of Trifluoroacetic Acid and Trifluoroacetic Anhydride

“…On the other hand, after the solution in TFA/TFAA, both types of nanocelluloses showed two thermal events: a weight loss of ~30% at ~250 °C and another of ~17% at ~275 °C. The thermal degradation at a lower temperature can be related to the partial hydrolysis of amorphous and lower molecular weight cellulose domains that appear after the solvent treatment [60,61], while the second one can be ascribed to the part of the nanocelluloses unaffected by the acid and the anhydride.…”

Kinetics of Cellulose Deposition in Developing Cotton Fibers Studied by Thermogravimetric Analysis

“…Hideno reported similar findings, the ball-milled cellulose had a decrease from 335 • C to 328 • C in the maximum degradation rate temperature when compared to the original sample. This was attributed to the decrease in crystallinity of the sample [38]. The data of crystallinity reported by Abidi et al was compared to the peak temperature of the developing cotton fibers (graph not shown) and there is not a good relationship, especially after 30 dpa.…”

“…Other researchers attributed the distinct behavior of the thermal decomposition among cellulosic samples to different crystallinity content. As the crystallinity index of the cellulosic samples increases, the thermal stability of the samples tends to increase [25,[36][37][38]. The first derivative of the thermograms was calculated to emphasize the inflection points.…”