Isolation and Production of Nanocrystalline Cellulose from Conocarpus Fiber

Abstract

Conocarpus fiber is a lignocellulosic biomass rich in cellulose potentially used for producing nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC), a biomaterial extensively employed in various application fields. In the present work, different hydrolysis times of 10, 20 and 30 min were applied to chemically pre-treated Conocarpus fiber to produce CPNC1, CPNC2, and CPNC3 particles. With acid hydrolysis treatment, the yield of NCC product was successfully retained at 17–19%. Individual, rod-like shapes of NCC particles could be clearly observed under microscopy examination. From chemical composition analysis, a relatively pure cellulose compartment was produced for all NCC samples with substantial removal of lignin and hemicellulose. The physicochemical analysis proved that each nanoparticle sample possessed strong cellulose crystalline structure. For thermal analyses, the heat resistance of NCCs was gradually enhanced with the increased hydrolysis times. Therefore, the extracted NCC product from Conocarpus fiber could be a green nano-filler for developing nanocomposite material in the future.

Isolation and Characterization of Nanocrystalline Cellulose Isolated from Pineapple Crown Leaf Fiber Agricultural Wastes Using Acid Hydrolysis

“…Furthermore, the peaks at 1056 cm −1 and 891 cm −1 can be assigned to the C–OH stretching and C–O–C symmetric glycosidic bonds, respectively, during NCC synthesis. Both peaks indicated the cellulose crystalline content and structure detailed elsewhere [ 4 , 11 , 35 ]. The peak at 850 cm −1 is associated with the C–O–S bending vibration in C–O–SO 3− groups, indicating the NCC sulfation peak, and was detected in NCC-2 and NCC-3 but not significantly in NCC-1.…”

“…All the NCC samples showed diffraction peak at 16°, 22.5°, and 34.4°, correlating to the (110), (200), and (004) crystal planes of the Iβ cellulose structure [ 38 , 39 ]. The diffraction peak at 22.5° was significantly enhanced in the NCC-2 and NCC-3 spectra, indicating the cellulose crystalline regions were greater in the samples [ 11 , 30 ].…”

“… where a (g) is the initial weight of the PCLF sample, b (g) is the residue weight at the two weighings, c (g) and d (g) are the residue weight at the third and fourth weighing, and e (g) is the weight of the ash. The percentage yield of each NCC sample’s production was calculated using Equation (6) [ 11 ]: where m 1 is the mass of raw PCLF, m 2 is the total mass after the hydrolysis process within the weighing container, and m 3 is the mass of the weighing container.…”

“…Generally, NCC has diameters of around 5–30 nm and lengths of 100–500 nm. NCC has appealing properties such as a high reinforcing capability, good thermal stability, biodegradability, and biocompatibility [ 11 , 12 ]. NCC is a crystalline powder that is light in color, odorless, and tasteless [ 13 ].…”

“…NCC is a crystalline powder that is light in color, odorless, and tasteless [ 13 ]. Its structural characteristics, such as particle size, thermal tolerance, and crystal rigidity, are primarily determined by the raw material sources, as well as process conditions such as pretreatment methods, treatment reactions, hydrolysis duration, variety of acid, acid concentration, and temperature [ 11 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. NCC is utilized in the food processing, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic sectors as a value-added product [ 17 ].…”