Synthesis and Characterization of Microcrystalline Cellulose from Giant Reed Using Different Delignification Processes

Abstract

In this work, cellulose was extracted from giant reed (GR) via alkaline treatment and two different delignification processes (acidified NaClO2 and totally chlorine-free (TCF). After that, microcrystalline cellulose (MCCs) particles were successfully isolated from two prepared cellulose samples using HCl acid hydrolysis. The different properties of each sample were studied with various characterization tools such as infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetry (TGA), and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The FTIR spectra confirmed the removal of hemicellulose and lignin of the giant reed through the applied extraction processes. The XRD spectra exhibited that both MCCs belong to cellulose I type and showed higher crystallinity index compared to pure cellulose samples. DSC and TGA/DTG results showed that MCC samples have a higher thermal stability. Moreover, the use of a totally chlorine-free process allowed obtaining MCC with higher crystallinity and thermal stability. Consequently, giant reed can be considered as a potential source to extract MCC for which the green totally chlorine-free is a prominent process to produce MCC from cellulosic substrate.