Features Bioeconomy Research & Innovation
Science prize goes to nanocellulose production method

Nanofibrillated cellulose has a surface area and shape that enable the formation of strong networks. The manufacturing process where the wood pulp is mechanically broken down to its nanoscale building blocks is, however, very energy-intensive, which has hampered industrial interest so far.

Professor Akira Isogai and Associate Professor Tsuguyuki Saito from the University of Tokyo and Dr. Yoshiharu Nishiyama from the Centre de recherches sur les macromolécules végétales, Cermav in Grenoble, France, have found and developed an energy-efficient way to produce nanofibrillated cellulose. Their discovery of using a specific oxidation reaction as a tool to open up the wood material prior to mechanical disintegration has reduced the energy demand dramatically. The three scientists are awarded the 2015 Marcus Wallenberg Prize of SEK 2 million for this groundbreaking discovery.

“It is a significant discovery that paves the way for nanocellulose being one key product of the future forest industry. The energy consumption is a very important parameter, and the traditional production of nanofibrillated cellulose has been too energy-intensive to attract industrial interest,” says Johanna Buchert of VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. She is also a member of the prize selection committee of the Marcus Wallenberg Foundation.

The work of the prize-winners has stimulated more intensive research on nanofibrillated cellulose and its applications around the world, says Buchert.

The generalized term nanocellulose refers to both nanofibrillated celluloses and cellulose nanocrystals. They have similar chemical compositions but different properties such as size and crystallinity.

Nanocrystalline cellulose is obtained by chemical removal of the amorphous parts of the fibre. The 2013 Marcus Wallenberg Prize was awarded Professor Derek Gray, McGill University, Canada, for his research within this field.

Nanofibrillated cellulose, on the other hand, is produced from wood pulp by mechanical treatment. In addition to the crystalline regions it also contains parts of the amorphous regions. Depending on the process the fibres can either become organized in bundles of fibrils or isolated in long and spaghetti-like fibrils.

Nanofibrillated cellulose has become more interesting for various applications since the Marcus Wallenberg Prize-winners Akira Isogai, Tsuguyuki Saito and Yoshiharu

Nishiyama were able to exploit the specific oxidation reaction as a tool to facilitate the mechanical disintegration of the wood pulp. By their method the energy need can be reduced from 30 000 kWh/ton to 100-500 kWh/ton. The cellulose produced this way is even more homogeneous.