Electrospun cellulose nanofibers from toilet paper

A. G. Kiper, A. Özyuguran, S. Yaman*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Toilet paper was used to produce cellulosic nanofibers through electrospinning method. Dissolution of toilet paper was attempted in either solutions of 0.5–8.5 wt% lithium chloride in Dimethylacetamide (LiCl/DMAc) or Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). LiCl/DMAc solvent with concentrations lower than 8 wt% was incapable of completely dissolving the toilet paper even though several days of interaction. 8 wt% solvent dissolved the toilet paper, but the obtained solution was too viscous for spinning, and spraying occurred rather than spinning, and hardly visible deposits with fringed structure formed. In contrast, TFA solution dissolved the toilet paper, and the solutions could be spun easily. In these tests, spinning parameters were changed within the feeding rates of 2.00–9.25 mL/h, needle tip-to-collection plate distances of 140–205 mm, voltage of 23–28 kV, and relative humidity of 53–70%. The produced fibers were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). It was concluded that the produced fibers are ultrafine with nanoscale diameter, and the morphologies of produced fibers are severely in the shape of bead-on-string fibers. Besides, the use of TFA solvent led to reduction in the crystallinity of cellulose that is one of the typical intrinsic characteristics of cellulose.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1999-2011
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Material Cycles and Waste Management
Volume22
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Springer Japan KK, part of Springer Nature.

Funding

This work was financially supported by the Scientific Research Projects (BAP) Unit of Istanbul Technical University (Project number: MYL-2018-41504). Also, the authors would like to thank Aysen Akturk (MSc) for her helps.

FundersFunder number
Istanbul Teknik ÜniversitesiMYL-2018-41504

    Keywords

    • Beads
    • Cellulose
    • Electrospinning
    • Material cycles
    • Nanofiber
    • Toilet paper

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