posted on 2024-03-08, 15:45authored byJiaxiang Zhao, Guihua Yang, Xingxiang Ji, Cong Li, Xiaoxia Cai, Qiang Wang, Yanshao Liu, Fengshan Zhang
Eraser, the most widely used stationery item made of
vulcanized
rubbers or petroleum-based resins, is too common to draw attention.
Its fragments falling off during the erasing process may appear small
and insignificant; however, it should be noteworthy that they are
in fact microplastics, which are hard to degrade in nature and pose
significant threats to the ecological environment. In this work, a
microcrystalline cellulose (MCC)-based elastomer was proposed that
displays an impressive erasure effect combined with good biodegradability.
This special erasure function is attributed to its unique microstructure,
in which a very high loading of MCC (75 wt %) was achieved via a planetary
centrifugal mixing of MCC and a polyethylene glycol-derived aqueous
polyurethane (APE). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that
MCC particles were uniformly coated with APE. Differential scanning
calorimetry (DSC) and swelling tests further clarified the specific
interactions between APE and MCC. The oriented aggregation principle
and Young’s equation were employed to describe the erasure
behavior and elucidate the underlying mechanism. It indicated that
APE played a key role in transferring pencil lead powders from paper
to the eraser. SEM, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
(XPS) indicated that MCC played another key role in facilitating the
removal of pencil shavings from the eraser’s surface. This
work provides a feasible thought for fabricating an “eco-eraser”
based on commercially available MCC, which shows great potential in
reducing the harm of eraser microplastics on the ecological environment
and develops a brand new application of cellulose in composite materials.