Roman Fercheluc, ClaudiaGarcía Morales, MoisésEugenio, María EugeniaIbarra, DavidDelgado CantóDelgado Canto, Miguel ÁngelRoman Fercheluc, Claudia2026-02-062026-02-062026Roman, C., García-Morales, M., Eugenio, M. E., Ibarra, D., Martín-Sampedro, R., & Delgado, M. A. (2021). A sustainable methanol-based solvent exchange method to produce nanocellulose-based ecofriendly lubricants. In Journal of Cleaner Production (Vol. 319, p. 128673). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128673. [Dataset] AM (Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Huelva). https://hdl.handle.net/10272/202000959-6526https://hdl.handle.net/10272/27897Project "Smart biolubricants with electro‑responsive capability based on lignocellulosic nanoparticles", (UHU-1255843), funded by Programa Operativo FEDER Andalucia 2014-2020, call 2018. It was led from the University of Huelva, and mainly developed at Center for Research in Chemical Products and Process Technology (Pro2TecS). Main objectives: developing electro‑responsive biolubricants from used vegetable‑oil fractions and lignocellulosic nanoparticles; optimizing their dispersion; evaluating their electrorheological and tribological performance; examining how particle properties and temperature influence their behavior. Methodology Cellulose nanofibers were produced from elm pulps via kraft pulping, bleaching, and either mechanical (PFI + microfluidization) or chemical (TEMPO) pretreatments. Nanofibers were characterized through composition analysis, AFM, XRD, and water‑sorption isotherms. Oleogels were prepared by transferring aqueous CNF hydrogels into castor oil using a methanol‑based solvent‑exchange protocol, followed by vacuum solvent removal. Final oleogels were evaluated by SEM, DSC, TGA, penetration testing, and rheology to assess structure, stability, and lubrication‑relevant properties. More info: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128673A prospective methodology aimed to develop totally sustainable oleogels with potential application in lubrication is reported. Oleogels were prepared with cellulose nanofibrils from elm pulps in castor oil. Even at a concentration as low as 1.4 wt%, the oleogels showed rheological behaviors similar to a traditional lithium grease used as reference. In that sense, the high thickening power of cellulose nanofibers was remarked. Never-dried bleached and unbleached elm pulps were mechanically treated with PFI mill refiner and microfluidizer. Moreover, as an alternative way of producing cellulose nanofibrils, the never-dried bleached elm pulp was chemically oxidized using 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radical (TEMPO). The three types of nanofibers were characterized and used in the production of oleogels. The great challenge was to remove the high amount of water retained by the nanofibrils during the nanofibrillation treatment before it was ncorporated into the vegetable oil-based lubricant. Alternative strategies such as liophilization or drying failed because the nanofibers, with very high specific surface and strong capacity to interact among them by hydrogen bonding, underwent severe aggregation. Instead, the proposed methanol-based solvent exchange method enabled the transfer of the cellulose nanofibrils from the origin hydrogel to the vegetable oil with no detriment of both their aspect ratio and thickening capacity. Chemical considerations are provided with regard to such a solvent-mediated method, which yielded homogeneous and storage-stable oleogels. This work may attract the interest of lubricant manufacturers. to produce nanocellulose-based eco-lubricating greases for industrial applicationengAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/dataset10.33776/ariasmontano.2789710.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128673open access33 Ciencias Tecnológicas