Acacia dealbata was the lignocellulosic biomass source used in this study. Branches of acacia were collected in the central region of Portugal and cut into smaller fractions, being ground and sieved to obtain a particle size of 0.25–0.84 mm.
The chemicals used in the pretreatment of acacia were [BMIM]MeSO4 (purchased from IOLITEC), oxalic acid dihydrate (purchased from Fronteiralquimia Unipessoal, Lda), ChCl and imidazole (both purchased from Acros Organics). All the chemicals had a least 98% of purity and were used without any further purification.
For the cationization of the obtained cellulose-rich materials the following chemicals were used: lithium chloride, sodium periodate, hydroxylamine hydrochloride and Girard's reagent T (GT) (all purchased from Sigma-Aldrich). Silver nitrate and isopropanol were obtained from VWR Chemicals.