High-pressure homogenized citrus fiber cellulose dispersions: Structural characterization and flow behavior

Journal
Food structure  
Volume
30
Article Number
100237
Citation
Food Structure 30: 100237- (2021)
Publisher DOI
10.1016/j.foostr.2021.100237
Publisher
Elsevier
Functionalized biomass waste sources of cellulose have drawn attention due to their high availability and sustainability properties. In this work we characterize the structural and flow properties of high-pressure homogenized citrus fiber cellulose dispersions, employing SAXS, rheology and rheo-MRI techniques. The high-pressure treatment disrupts the microfibrillar network within the citrus fibers, but leaves the individual microfibrils intact. Under moderate shear (0.1-100 s-1) in a confined (<1mm) geometry, these functionalized citrus fiber cellulose dispersions exhibit thixotropic shear-banding behavior accompanied by cooperative flow of microfibril flocs with correlation lengths Ɛ-100 µm. The presented findings form a basis towards understanding and manipulating the structural and rheological properties of non-wood biomass cellulose microfibrils under industrially-relevant conditions.
DDC Class
570: Biowissenschaften, Biologie
600: Technik