The application of nanocellulose product to enhance the water retention of sand particles

บทคัดย่อ

This research aims to investigate the application of nanocellulose (NC) for enhancing water retention in different sand particles. The water-holding capacity as well as surface evaporation of sand mixed with NC were investigated. Three sand particles such coarse sand (2.0-0.425 mm), medium sand (0.425-0.075 mm), and fine sand (0.075-0.053 mm) were mixed with NC in various contents as 1: 400, 1: 300, 1: 200, 1: 100, 1:75, 1:50, 1:25, 1:20, and 1:10 (NC : sand, W/W). The experiment includes the control that without NC. The water-holding capacity (WHC) of all treatments were measured. The surface evaporation was carried out only two contents of NC (1:50 and 1:100) under different environments (in the oven, room temperature, balcony, and outside). These contents of NC were representative of high and low NC concentrations. The surface evaporations of all sand particles were measured follow by the time. The results indicated that NC significantly improve WHC and maintain water for all sand sizes. The maximum WHC was showed at content 1:50 of NC for all treatments. The relationship between NC content and WHC were not linear. Change of WHC of sand depended on NC content and sand particle size. The coarse and medium-sand showed the increased WHC higher than fine-sand. The NC could improve micropores in coarse and medium sand for water storage. Whereas in fine sand, the fraction of macropore was increased instead. The result of surface evaporation showed that high NC content (1:50) gave high rate of surface evaporation. However, the NC could maintain moisture in sand longer than without NC. Under the different environment, outside showed the highest evaporation rate for all treatments due to ambient factors. The NC product showed different benefit for particle size.