Biochemical preparation of hydrophobic and lipophilic nanocellulose from hemp stalk

Abstract

In this paper, an efficient, unmodified, and clean biological method was provided to prepare high crystallinity nanocellulose for the high-value green application of hemp stalk. The biological method of nanocellulose (NCs-B) was prepared with the enzyme and a small amount of alkali, while the chemical method of nanocellulose (NCs-C) was prepared with strong acid. By fitting small-angle X-ray diffraction with the quantitative polydispersity hypothesis, the cross-sectional morphology and capacity distribution were analyzed. The structure and performance of NCs were characterized by wide-angle diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectrum, transmission electron microscope , contact angle, and Zeta potential. The distribution of the unit volume capacity of NCs-B was 13.9%, which was higher than that of NCs-C (5.9%) prepared by the conventional chemical method. The diameter and length of NCs-B were 1.77 nm and 171.6 nm, accounting for 54% and 143% of the NCs-C, respectively. The preparation rate of NCs-B was 40.64%, and the utilization rate of cellulose reached 83.14%, which was 1.39 times that of NCs-C. The crystallinity of NCs-B (63.31%) was similar to that of NCs-C, but was significantly higher than that of other methods. The NCs-B was hydrophobic (108.4°), which was different from the hydrophilicity of NCs-C (39.6°). The cell viability of NCs-B was 140%, which was 2.4 times that of NCs-C, and it was non-toxic.