I have a rather large amount of nano cellulose suspension (~1L) that needs to be dried. Unfortunately, the freeze dryer I have access to is of much smaller capacity.
I am looking for ways to reduce the water content without causing agglomeration or change in structure. Oven drying is not an option as it would cause agglomeration, rotary evaporation on the other hand can assist in evaporation of water at lower temperatures (reduced pressure).
Any feedback on the above mentioned process or an alternative process suggestion is welcome.
P.S- I am aware that it is best to keep nanocellulose in suspension form, however I have to transport it so keeping it in suspension form isn't an option.
Dear Aisha,
yes; freeze drying is amonst the best options. However you may also perform a liquid displacement i.e. a step-wise replacement of the water phase by another suitable liquid such as an alcohol. We presented one such approach in our poster from last year (2015). This involved also a subsequent freeze-drying step, primarily for sample preparation(s).
Conference Paper Advanced approaches for biopolymer characterization
Freeze drying is the best option but if you want to reduce the amount of water in it, you could go with vacuum oven drying which will operate in very low pressure and lower temperature.
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