Obtención de hidrogeles de nanocelulosa a partir de fibras de abacá : elaboración de hidrogeles a partir de nanocelulosa de abacá mediante el método de síntesis hidrotermal.

Abstract

The abaca plant belongs to the Musaceae family, its product of interest corresponds to the fibers extracted from its pseudostem. To obtain cellulose nanocrystals the non-crystalline regions must be destroyed by acid hydrolysis; nanocrystals are used in the production of hydrogels that allow the absorption of high amounts of water. The objective of the project was to obtain hydrogels from abaca CNC by hydrothermal synthesis. The process for obtaining cellulose began by cutting the abaca fibers to lengths of 5 cm next followed by digestion with sodium hydroxide to obtain a pulp that was washed with most of water later the cellulose pulp was dried. The cellulose was ground next an acid hydrolysis was carried out at 45°C for 45 minutes and it was diluted in type I deionized water using a liquor ratio of 1:10, it was centrifuged at 1500 rpm for 20 minutes and a dialysis was carried out until it had a neutral pH. This product was sonicated at 40% amplitude and filtered to a size of 4 μm to obtain a solution of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC). To obtain the hydrogel the CNC solution was concentrated to 4%, sonicated at a 40% amplitude and stirred then a sample of the solution was placed in the reactor that worked at 100 or 120°C for 20 hours. This process was repeated for concentrations of 5 and 6%. Hydrogels were obtained with a concentration of 6% of CNC have a greater stability in its structure; the highest percentage of swelling and equilibrium water content were 41.32% and 29.94% respectively for a concentration of 4% at 100°C.