Crosslinked cellulose as precursor in production of high-grade cellulose derivatives and related technology

A pulp in accordance with a particular embodiment includes crosslinked cellulose fibers. The pulp can have high brightness， reactivity， and intrinsic viscosity. The pulp， therefore， can be well suited for use as a precursor in the production of low-color， high-viscosity cellulose derivatives. A method in accordance with a particular embodiment of the present technology includes forming a pulp from a cellulosic feedstock， bleaching the pulp， crosslinking cellulose fibers within the pulp while the pulp has a high consistency， and drying the pulp. The bleaching process can reduce a lignin content of the pulp to less than or equal to 0.09% by oven-dried weight of the crosslinked cellulose fibers. Crosslinking the cellulose fibers can include exposing the cellulose fibers to a glycidyl ether crosslinker having two or more glycidyl groups and a molecular weight per epoxide within a range from 140 to 175.

根据特定实施例，该纸浆包含交联纤维素纤维。该纸浆可具备高白度、高反应性与高特性黏度，因此非常适合作为低色、高黏度纤维素衍生物生产的前驱体。本技术某一特定实施例对应的方法包括：从纤维素原料制备纸浆、对纸浆进行漂白、在纸浆处于高浓状态下对纸浆内的纤维素纤维进行交联，以及对纸浆进行干燥。该漂白工艺可将纸浆的木质素含量降至交联纤维素纤维绝干重量的0.09%及以下。对纤维素纤维进行交联的过程包括：将纤维素纤维暴露于含有两个或更多缩水甘油基，且每环氧基团的分子量介于140至175之间的缩水甘油醚交联剂中。