A method for producing parenchymal cell cellulose by using a high consistency alkali treatment and an optional refinement step, as well as an apparatus for its manufacture.

The present invention is intended to enhance the transparency of a composition obtained using ultrafine cellulose fibers having phosphorous acid groups, while suppressing the yellowing of the ultrafine cellulose fibers. The present invention relates to cellulose fibers having a fiber width of 1000 nm or less and having a phosphorus oxoacid group or a phosphorus oxoacid group-derived substituent, wherein when a first amount of dissociated acid in the cellulose fibers is set to be A1 and a total amount of dissociated acid in the cellulose fibers is set to be A2, A1 is 1.35 mmol/g or more, and the value of A1/A2 is 0.51 or more, and when a sheet is formed under a predetermined condition, the YI value of the sheet is 6.0 or less.

The present invention is intended to provide ultrafine cellulose fibers capable of enhancing the transparency of an ultrafine cellulose fiber-dispersed solution having phosphorous acid groups. The present invention relates to a method for producing cellulose fibers, comprising: mixing a compound having a phosphorous acid group and/or a salt thereof and urea and/or a urea derivative into a cellulose raw material to obtain a phosphorous acid esterified cellulose raw material, and performing a fibrillation treatment on the phosphorous acid esterified cellulose raw material to obtain cellulose fibers having a fiber width of 1000 nm or less and having a phosphorous acid group, wherein, in obtaining the phosphorous acid esterified cellulose raw material, the decomposition percentage of the urea and/or the urea derivative is set to be 90% or less.

The present invention provides aqueous compositions for treating fluff pulp comprising (i) one or more acrylic acid polymers containing phosphinate groups and having a weight average molecular weight of from 1,000 to 6,000 and (ii) from 5 to 50 wt. %, based on the total solids weight of the aqueous compositions, of one or more polyethylene glycols, having a formula weight of from 150 to 7,000, or, preferably, from 200 to 600. The present invention also provides individualized, intrafiber crosslinked cellulosic fibers comprising the cellulosic fiber and, in cured form, the aqueous compositions, as well as methods of making the individualized, intrafiber crosslinked cellulosic fibers.

A process comprising treating a lignocellulosic material preferably pulp in the presence of a transition metal catalyst with a oxidizing agent selected from a group consisting of hydrogen peroxide, hypochlorite, hypochlorous acid and any combination thereof to form a treated lignocellulosic material having a viscosity equal to or less than about 17 cp and having reducing functional groups selected from the group consisting of aldehyde and aldehyde type functional groups at the C6 and C1 positions but predominating at the C1 position.

Processes disclosed are capable of converting biomass into high-crystallinity nanocellulose with surprisingly low mechanical energy input. In some variations, the process includes fractionating biomass with an acid (such as sulfur dioxide), a solvent (such as ethanol), and water, to generate cellulose-rich solids and a liquid containing hemicellulose and lignin; and mechanically treating the cellulose-rich solids to form nanofibrils and/or nanocrystals. The crystallinity of the nanocellulose material may be 80% or higher, translating into good reinforcing properties for composites. The nanocellulose material may include nanofibrillated cellulose, nanocrystalline cellulose, or both. In some embodiments, the nanocellulose material is hydrophobic via deposition of some lignin onto the cellulose surface. Optionally, sugars derived from amorphous cellulose and hemicellulose may be separately fermented, such as to monomers for various polymers. These polymers may be combined with the nanocellulose to form completely renewable composites.

A modified kraft pulp fiber with unique properties is provided. The modified fiber can be a modified bleached kraft fiber that is almost indistinguishable from its conventional counterpart, except that it has a low degree of polymerization (DP). Methods for making the modified fiber and products made from it are also provided. The method can be a one step acidic, iron catalyzed peroxide treatment process that can be incorporated into a single stage of a multi-stage bleaching process. The products can be chemical cellulose feedstocks, microcrystalline cellulose feedstocks, fluff pulps and products made from them.

The present invention relates to a method for producing modified cellulose fibers having cellulose I crystal structure, comprising: step A: introducing Substituent Group A to cellulose fibers via an ether bond in a solvent comprising water in the presence of a base, and step B: introducing Substituent Group B to cellulose fibers via an ether bond in a solvent comprising water in the presence of a base, wherein the method includes the steps A and B concurrently, or in the order of the step A and then the step B. The cellulose fibers of the present invention obtained by the method for production of the present invention have favorable dispersibility in a hydrophobic medium and a controlled increase in viscosity.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a fluffed cellulose having totally new properties that have not conventionally existed, and a cellulose fiber-containing material capable of realizing the same. The present invention relates to a cellulose fiber-containing material comprising cellulose fibers having anionic groups, wherein the yield of the cellulose fiber-containing material measured by the following measurement method is 50% by mass or more, the cellulose fiber-containing material has organic onium ions as counterions of the anionic groups, and the organic onium ions satisfy a predetermined condition.

The present invention relates to an asphalt composition enabling one to provide an asphalt pavement in which the occurrence of rutting and fatigue cracking is inhibited and a method for producing the same, and to an additive for asphalt. The asphalt composition contains asphalt and cellulose, wherein the content of the cellulose is 0.01 part by mass or more and 10 parts by mass or less based on 100 parts by mass of the asphalt, and a crystallization index of the cellulose is 50% or less.