Simultaneous preparation of cellulose nanocrystals and micron-sized porous colloidal particles of cellulose by TEMPO-mediated oxidation

Abstract

TEMPO-mediated oxidation of commercially available microgranular cellulose resulted in particles of three different length scales: rod-like cellulose nanocrystals (∼100 nm in length), micron-sized particles (microns in length), and coarse particles (typically tens of microns in length). The particles in the two larger fractions were highly porous, consisting of aligned nanocrystals.