J Wood Sci (2010) 56:227–232 © The Japan Wood Research Society 2010 DOI 10.1007/s10086-009-1092-7 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Tsuguyuki Saito · Masayuki Hirota · Naoyuki Tamura Akira Isogai Oxidation of bleached wood pulp by TEMPO/NaClO/NaClO2 system: effect of the oxidation conditions on carboxylate content and degree of polymerization Received: August 29, 2009 / Accepted: November 3, 2009 / Published online: January 22, 2010 Abstract Oxidation of bleached wood pulp by the TEMPO/ at pH 9–11, in conjunction with NaBr and NaClO as a co- NaClO/NaClO2 system was carried out at pH 3.5–6.8 and catalyst and a primary oxidant, respectively (TEMPO/ 25°–60°C with different amounts of NaClO, and investi- NaBr/NaClO system), and the C6 primary hydroxyls of cel- gated in terms of effects of the reaction conditions on car- lulose are selectively oxidized.10–12 boxylate content and degree of polymerization (DP) of the When regenerated or mercerized celluloses are used as oxidized pulp. Oxidation was accelerated by the addition of starting samples for TEMPO/NaBr/NaClO oxidation, all NaClO, when carried out at pH 6.8 and 40°–60°C. Addition the C6 hydroxyls of cellulose are oxidized to carboxyls, and of NaClO of more than 0.5 mmol per gram of the pulp was water-soluble β-(1→4)-linked polyglucuronic acids (cellou- effective to accelerate the oxidation. Carboxylate content ronic acids) are quantitatively obtained.10 In the case of of pulp oxidized under such conditions increased to approx- native celluloses such as bleached wood pulp and cotton, imately 0.6 mmol/g within 6 h. Although DP of the oxidized oxidation occurs only at the surface of cellulose microfi brils, pulp gradually decreased with oxidation time, no signifi cant maintaining the fi brous morphology of the pulp.15–18 This differences in DP of oxidized pulps were found at oxidation benefi cial surface oxidation of the pulps led to development temperatures between 25° and 60°C, and DP values of more of a novel environmentally friendly mechanism for improv- than 900 were maintained after oxidation for 54 h at 60°C. ing wet-paper strength and of metal ion adsorbents having a high exchange capacity.19–22 In addition, because carboxyl Key words Cellulose · Microfi bril · TEMPO · Oxidation · groups formed on the microfi bril surfaces have anionic Carboxyl charges in water, which produce repulsive effects between the microfi brils, oxidized pulp can be fully disintegrated in water to individual microfi brils by mild mechanical treat- Introduction ment.23,24 Films of the individualized microfi brils are trans- parent and fl exible and exhibit high tensile strength, low Many fundamental or technological studies have been coeffi cients of thermal expansion, and extremely high 25 directed to oxidation of cellulose with a view to developing oxygen barrier properties. the material properties of cellulose by formation of alde- However, substantial depolymerization of cellulose hyde and/or carboxyl groups.1–5 However, most of the oxi- during oxidation is inevitable even when using the TEMPO/ dation methods reported earlier must be carried out under NaBr/NaClO system. Degrees of polymerization of regen- conditions that are harsh for cellulose and inevitably were erated celluloses, ranging from 220 to 680, decreased to 40 26,27 accompanied by substantial degradation of the cellulose during the oxidation, and degrees of polymerization of and various side reactions.6–9 In the past decade, the cata- bleached wood pulps and cotton linters also decreased 12,15 lytic oxidation method using stable nitroxyl radicals such as eventually to 200–300. Depolymerization mechanisms of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO) has become cellulose during oxidation have been proposed as follows: β one of the promising procedures for oxidation of cellu- (1) the -elimination of glycoside bonds at the C6 aldehydes lose.10–14 Catalytic oxidation using TEMPO has thus far formed as intermediates in the oxidation of primary hydrox- 28 been applied to cellulose under weakly alkaline conditions yls to carboxyls, occurring under alkaline conditions, and (2) active species such as hydroxyl radicals formed in situ, in turn attacking the glycoside bonds of cellulose.29 T. Saito (*) · M. Hirota · N. Tamura · A. Isogai In the latest studies about the TEMPO-mediated oxida- Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University tion of cellulose, we found that depolymerization of cellu- of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan Tel. +81-3-5841-5538; Fax +81-3-5842-5269 lose during oxidation was substantially inhibited by using e-mail: [email protected] the TEMPO/NaClO/NaClO2 system under weakly acidic 228 sodium chlorite, a 2 M sodium hypochlorite solution, and other chemicals were of laboratory grade (Wako Pure N Chemicals, Japan), and were used without further O purifi cation. TEMPO Oxidation of bleached wood pulp by NaClO or NaClO2 TEMPO/NaClO/NaClO2 system The pulp (1 g) was suspended in 0.1 M sodium phosphate CH OH 2 buffer (90 ml, pH 6.8) or 0.1 M acetate buffer (90 ml, pH O 3.5 or 4.8) dissolving TEMPO (0.016 g, 0.1 mmol) and + OH O N sodium chlorite (80%, 1.13 g, 10 mmol) in an airtight fl ask. The 2 M sodium hypochlorite solution (0.5 ml, 1.0 mmol) O OH NaCl was diluted to 0.1 M with the same 0.1 M buffer used as the oxidation medium, and was added at one step to the fl ask (in some experiments, the oxidation was carried out without N CHO addition of sodium hypochlorite solution). The fl ask was O immediately stoppered, and the suspension was stirred at OH OH O 25°, 40°, or 60°C for a designated time (2–54 h). After NaClO cooling the suspension to room temperature, the TEMPO- OH oxidized celluloses were thoroughly washed with water by fi ltration. The oxidized pulps were recovered in yields of more than 98% by fi ltration for all the conditions examined. NaClO2 COOH O OH O Determination of carboxylate content OH Carboxylate contents of the oxidized pulps were deter- mined by the electric conductivity titration method. The Fig. 1. Catalytic cycle of the TEMPO(2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1- freeze-dried sample (0.3 g) was suspended in water (55 ml), oxyl)/NaClO/NaClO system for oxidation of cellulose 2 and suffi ciently stirred to be well dispersed. After 0.01 M NaCl (5 ml) was added, the pH value of the suspen- 30–32 conditions (Fig. 1). In the TEMPO/NaClO/NaClO2 sion was set to 2.8 with 0.1 M HCl. A 0.05 M NaOH solu- system, a primary oxidant is NaClO2, and a catalytic amount tion was added at 0.1 ml/min up to pH 11 using a pH stat. of NaClO is added to start the catalytic cycle. Because the Carboxylate content of the sample was determined from the C6 aldehydes formed as intermediates are immediately oxi- conductivity and pH curves.15 dized to carboxyls by NaClO2 under weakly acidic condi- tions, the depolymerization of cellulose by β-elimination is avoided. DPv measurement In the present study, oxidation of bleached wood pulp Intrinsic viscosities of the oxidized pulps were obtained by by the TEMPO/NaClO/NaClO2 system was carried out under various reaction conditions to investigate in more a capillary viscometer using 0.5 M copper ethylenediamine detail the effects of the oxidation conditions on carboxylate (cuen) as the solvent, and these values were converted to content and degree of polymerization. viscosity average degrees of polymerization (DPv) by the reported method.33 Materials and methods Results and discussion Materials Oxidation of bleached wood pulp by the A commercial hardwood bleached kraft pulp was provided TEMPO/NaClO2 system by a Japanese pulp company as never-dried wet pulp with about 80% water content. The pulp was purifi ed with 0.3% The catalytic cycle of the TEMPO/NaClO/NaClO2 system NaClO2 in acetate buffer at pH 4.8 and 60°C for 1 h, and starts by oxidation of TEMPO to the oxoammonium ion 32 this treatment was duplicated until the pulp became com- with NaClO or slowly with NaClO2 (see Fig. 1). In the pletely white. The pulp was then washed with water by fi l- cycle, the oxoammonium ion oxidizes the C6 primary tration and stored at 4°C. The cellulose content of the pulp hydroxyls of cellulose to aldehyde and is reduced to the was 90%, and the remainder was mostly xylan. TEMPO, hydroxylamine. The aldehydes are immediately oxidized to 229 0.8 0.8 pH 3.5 60°C pH 4.8 40°C 0.6 0.6 pH 6.8 25°C 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.2 Carboxylate content (mmol/g) Carboxylate content (mmol/g) 0.0 0.0 0 20 40 60 0 20 40 60 Reaction time (h) Reaction time (h) Fig. 2. Infl uence of pH on the oxidation of bleached wood pulp by the Fig. 3. Infl uence of temperature on the oxidation of bleached wood TEMPO/NaClO2 system at 40°C pulp by the TEMPO/NaClO2 system at pH 6.8 carboxyls with NaClO2, and then NaClO generated in situ pH 3.5 pH 3.5 without NaClO from NaClO2 oxidizes the hydroxylamine, again to the pH 4.8 pH 4.8 without NaClO oxoammonium ion. pH 6.8 pH 6.8 without NaClO The oxidation of pulp was fi rst carried out only with 0.8 TEMPO and NaClO2 (TEMPO/NaClO2 system), without addition of NaClO, to simplify the oxidation system.