ENGINEERING CELLULOSE FIBRE COMPOSITES FOR LIQUID FILTRATION

This PhD thesis focuses on development of cellulose fibre composite depth filters with improved functionalities. Depth filters are widely used in industrial food and pharmaceutical purification processes. However, there is still need for improvement of the existing filter products. Also, they should be explored more and adapted to different applications. In the first part, depth filters were critically analysed to explore and extend the range of properties achievable by different components. Then, new advanced filter structures were engineered to improve the performance. In the last section, biodegradable and renewable cellulose nanofibres were used to develop cleaner filters for food grade applications.