Extraction of Cellulose Nanofibers Using Food Packaging

Abstract

Solid waste from food packaging is accumulated in urban waste in abundance. It is widely recognized that the composition of this packaging is 75% paperboard, 20% polyethylene and 5% aluminum; so it is necessary to look for solutions to minimize the impact of discarding these packets. Currently, there is a great motivation to study renewable materials, which have great potential for the development of nanomaterials due to their physical-mechanical properties, properties such as: high surface area, colloidal stability, mechanical resistance and low toxicity. Thus, this work aimed to characterize the cellulose nanofibers obtained from milk food packaging. For this, the cellulose fibers contained in the paperboard underwent pretreatment, bleaching and then were subjected to acid hydrolysis. The resulting cellulose nanofibers were then characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetry (TG/DTG) and ray diffraction analysis. -X. The result of the FTIR spectra showed the efficiency of removal of non-cellulosic constituents. In addition, the cellulose nanofibers obtained were in the form of elongated needles, with a diameter between 6 and 9 nm, in addition to high crystallinity, good thermal stability and high dispersion.