Different nanocellulose morphologies (cellulose nanofibers, nanocrystals and nanospheres) extracted from Sunn hemp (Crotalaria Juncea)

Abstract

Nanocellulose of different morphologies was extracted from Sunn Hemp (Crotalaria Juncea) using acid hydrolysis. The work focused on two objectives: first, to valorize the Sunn Hemp fibers for nanocellulose (NC) production, and second, to study the effects of acid concentration on different morphologies of NC and their properties. The study extracted nanocellulose at five different concentrations of H2SO4: 16 %, 32 %, 48 %, 64 %, and 72 %. Obtained nanocellulose was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). AFM and FE-SEM confirmed the production of three different morphologies of nanocellulose. The NC-32 had a web-like structure typically observed for cellulose nanofibrils (CNF), whereas NC-48 and NC-64 were observed as cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) with rod-like and needle-like shapes, respectively, and NC-72 displayed spherical particles termed cellulose nanospheres (CNS). The total crystallinity index of NC was calculated using FTIR, and a similar trend of crystallinity was also observed from XRD analysis. NC-32 was obtained with the highest yield of 94.83 %, followed by 91.40 % and 81.70 % for NC-48 and NC-64, respectively, whereas NC-72 yielded the lowest yield of 12.03 %. NC-72 had the highest thermal stability among other NC morphologies.