title: Nanofibrillated Cellulose Templated Membranes with High Permeance.
abstract: One of the most challenging aspects of using nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) for membranes production is their limited permeance. When NFC membranes are produced from aqueous suspensions, depending on their grammage, the permeances are in the range of a few decades of L/(hm2MPa) not matching satisfactory filtration times. We present a fast and sustainable solution to increase the permeances of such membranes through a combination of solvent exchange of the NFC suspension with ethanol and the use of a removable template, a mixture of calcium compounds (CC). The effect of the CC/NFC ratio was screened for various concentrations. The permeance of water could be increased by as much as 2-3 times as compared to nontemplated membranes. Further, the membranes showed the ability for penetration of water-soluble macromolecules, contaminant rejection of suspended solid particles, and thus fluids (such as orange juice) could be concentrated, with a view to applications in food industry.
authors.affiliation: Applied Wood Materials Laboratory, Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Material Science and Technology , Überlandstrasse 129, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.|ETH Zürich, Multifunctional Materials , Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Orsolini
authors.affiliation: Applied Wood Materials Laboratory, Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Material Science and Technology , Überlandstrasse 129, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.|DICMA, Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna , via Terracini 28, 40131 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Tommaso
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Marchesi D'Alvise
authors.affiliation: DICMA, Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna , via Terracini 28, 40131 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristiana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boi
authors.affiliation: Applied Wood Materials Laboratory, Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Material Science and Technology , Überlandstrasse 129, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Geiger
authors.affiliation: ETH Zürich, Multifunctional Materials , Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Walter R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Caseri
authors.affiliation: Applied Wood Materials Laboratory, Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Material Science and Technology , Überlandstrasse 129, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
keywords: calcium compounds; filtration; nanofibrillated cellulose membranes; permeance; template