Abstract
In this study, cellulose nanowhiskers from sugar palm fibers were isolated by sulfuric acid hydrolysis. The dimension of neutralized and un-neutralized obtained nanowhiskers was similar of each other. Two films from cellulose nanowhiskers suspension (without and with neutralization) were produced using a vacuum filtration technique. Comparing with native cellulose, the decomposition of nanowhiskers started at lower temperature. Meanwhile after neutralization of its acid sulfate groups the decomposition of nanowhiskers shifted to higher temperature to be close to native cellulose. This work indicated that the neutralization of acid sulfate groups improved the mechanical properties of cellulose nanowhiskers film while morphology, thermal stability, degree of crystallinity and chemical composition of cellulose nanowhiskers obtained could be maintained.
Highlights
Much attention on the development of eco-friendly products has encouraged many researchers to exploit the resources of cellulose, such as woods and agricultural biomass
The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of acid sulfate group on the morphology and properties of cellulose nanowhiskers from sugar palm fibers
The atomic force microscopy (AFM) images confirmed that the nanowhiskers suspensions contained mostly of individual fibrils indicating the treatments of cellulose fibers preparation and the sulfuric acid hydrolysis were effective to obtain nanowhiskers
Summary
Much attention on the development of eco-friendly products has encouraged many researchers to exploit the resources of cellulose, such as woods and agricultural biomass. Sulfuric acid hydrolysis is a well-known chemical method to obtain the stable suspension of cellulose nanowhiskers because the negative sulfate groups are introduced into the outer surface of cellulose during the hydrolysis process. This method significantly decreases the thermal stability of cellulose nanowhiskers. Garcia de Rodriguez et al (2006), Rosa et al (2010), and Fahma et al (2011) prepared cellulose nanowhiskers from coconut husk by 64-65 wt.% sulfuric acid hydrolysis at 45-65oC They investigated delignification process as pretreatment hydrolysis and characterized the nanowhiskers.
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