Extraction of cellulose nanowhiskers from natural fibers and agricultural byproducts

LEANDRO LUDUEÑA; ANTONELLA VECCHIO; PABLO STEFANI; VERA ALVAREZ

FIBERS AND POLYMERS

KOREAN FIBER SOC

Año: 2013 vol. 14 p. 1118 - 1127

1229-9197

In this work the feasibility of extracting cellulose from cotton, sisal and flax fibers, corn stover and rice husk by means of usual chemical procedures such as acid hydrolysis, chlorination, alkaline extraction, and bleaching was analyzed. Cellulose nanowhiskers from these sources, and from commercial cellulose, were produced by the acid hydrolysis of the obtained celluloses. The final products were characterized by means of Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The chemical procedure used to obtain cellulose nanowhiskers was effective in all cases but differences on the thermal stability, chemical composition, crystallinity and morphology were found due to the dissimilar nature of the different sources. Thus, this work demonstrates that the morphology and physical properties of cellulose nanowhiskers synthesized by the same conditions are strongly dependent on their source.