Amorphous Cellulose: Graphene Oxide Composite Bead

Abstract

In this research, we developed an efficient method for the fabrication of amorphous cellulose-graphene oxide composite. Amorphous cellulose (AC) and amorphous cellulose-graphene oxide (ACGO) beads were fabricated via H2SO4 gelatinization using eucalyptus paper as a raw material. The cellulose gel was droplet-extruded into deionized (DI) water and transformed to a solid bead via the water-regeneration process. Small AC and ACGO quasi-sphere beads with diameter of 2 mm were obtained. The semicrystalline eucalyptus cellulose was transformed into amorphous cellulose after the regeneration process. The entrapment of graphene oxide (GO) by the amorphous cellulose was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and raman spectroscopies (Raman). The gelatinization and regeneration processes offered a simple and efficient methodology for AC and ACGO bead fabrication. HIGHLIGHTS Amorphous cellulose (AC) and amorphous cellulose-graphene oxide (ACGO) beads were successfully fabricated via sulfuric acid gelatinization The average sizes of AC and ACGO beads were 2.11±13 and 2.14 ± 0.12 mm, respectively Structural characterization confirmed the transformation of cellulose I to cellulose II and graphene oxide was successfully embedded in ACGO beads The added graphene oxide interacted with the amorphous cellulose and made the surface of ACGO beads smooth GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT