Recently, researchers from the Institute of Bast Fiber Crops of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and South China Normal University have elucidated a new mechanism by which pectin enhances the redispersibility of holocellulose nanofibrils derived from kenaf fibers. This discovery offers a new approach to overcoming the key challenge of poor redispersibility in nanocellulose materials after drying and lays a theoretical foundation for advancing the practical application of nanocellulose materials.

Due to their unique properties, holocellulose nanofibrils (HCNFs) are drawing more and more attention. Residual pectin and lignin may have significant impacts on the redispersion of HCNFs, but relevant studies are lacking. Herein, HCNFs with different residues were prepared from kenaf fibers using careful chemical pretreatments followed by mechanical disintegration. The chemical structure, crystalline phases, morphological features, redispersion properties, and intermolecular interactions of different HCNFs were carefully characterized to clarify the effects of residual pectin and lignin on the redispersion of HCNFs. Residual pectin significantly increased the water redispersibility of HCNFs with an aspect ratio of 241, whereas residual lignin decreased the water redispersibility of HCNFs with an aspect ratio of 48. After 30 days of storage, redispersed pectin-containing HCNFs (P-HCNFs) presented dispersion stability close to never-dried P-HCNFs. The possible mechanism for high redispersibility of P-HCNFs is the formation of synergistic electrostatic and steric repulsion forces between cellulose fibrils, triggered by carboxyl groups in residual pectin and large aspect ratio HCNFs. This study proposes a redispersion strategy for HCNFs isolated from kenaf fibers.

The research was supported by the Youth Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Science and Technology Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and so on.

The study entitled “Pectin-containing holocellulose nanofibrils: Enhanced water redispersibility due to strong electrosteric repulsion” has been published online in Food Hydrocolloids and can be accessed through the following link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodhyd.2026.112663.