ABSTRACT
Cellulose forms the framework of the cell wall of plants and is always present in the form of a semi-crystalline structure of a few nanometres in diameter known as cellulose nanofibres (CNF). The cellulose morphology obtained by extrusion resembles the microfibrillated cellulose produced by a high-pressure homogeniser. The biggest challenge to obtain CNF is the extraction from plant fibres. The major processes of CNF extraction are fibrillation methods based on the application of shear or impact forces or sudden pressure drop to separate and individualise nanofibres. As most of the nanofibre extraction processes rely on highly specialised and costly devices, while the production yield is low and the energy consumption is high, a search for alternative more affordable processes is being continually pursued. One of these attempts was reported by K. Uetani and H. Yano, who used a kitchen blender to fibrillate never-dried wood pulp fibres.
