Eco-Friendly Cellulose Nanofiber Extraction from Sugarcane Bagasse and Film Fabrication

Abstract

The development of cost-effective cellulose fibers by utilizing agricultural residues have been attracted by the scientific community in the past few years; however, a facile production route along with minimal processing steps and a significant reduction in harsh chemical use is still lacking. Here, we report a straightforward ultrasound-assisted method to extract cellulose nanofiber (CNF) from fibrous waste sugarcane bagasse. X-ray diffraction-based crystallinity calculation showed 25% increase in the crystallinity of the extracted CNF (61.1%) as compared to raw sugarcane bagasse (35.1%), which is coherent with Raman studies. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) images revealed thread-like CNF structures. Furthermore, we prepared thin films of the CNF using hot press and solution casting method and compared their mechanical properties. Our experiments demonstrated that hot press is a more effective way to produce high strength CNF films; Young’s modulus of the thin films prepared from the hot press was ten times higher than the solution casting method. Our results suggest that a combination of ultrasound-based extraction and hot press-based film preparation is an efficient route of producing high strength CNF films.

Rice Husk-Derived Cellulose Nanofibers: A Potential Sensor for Water-Soluble Gases

“…Previously extracted cellulose fibers and cellulose nanofibers from rice husks in the laboratory were used to fabricate gas sensing devices. Details of the extraction methodology can be found in our previous studies [ 26 , 27 ]. In brief, homogeneous dried RH powder was hydrolyzed using mild sulfuric acid (0.1 M) with continuous stirring at 75 ± 5 °C for 2 h. The solution was filtered and washed with distilled water until the filtrate reached neutral pH.…”

“…Extracted cellulose fibers were the source of nanocellulose produced using the ultrasonic-chemical method. Details of the methodology and morphology of the synthesized cellulose can be found in a previous study [ 26 ]. In brief, cellulose pulp was irradiated using an ultrasonic titanium horn (frequency of 20 kHz for 2 h) and the obtained slurry was centrifuged at 10,000 rpm for 10 min at 4 °C to further remove water, then dried in an oven at 60 °C for 12 h for further characterization.…”

Biorefinery System of Lignocellulosic Biomass Using Steam Explosion

“…Several bleaching agents are available in the market, such as alkaline peroxide, sodium hypochlorite, and sodium chlorite, which are separated by filtration to obtain holocellulose, which is a raw material used for CNF. Hollocellulose can be directly processed to obtain CNF by using the grinding treatment [55,[69][70][71], high-pressure homogenization [57,[72][73][74], acid hydrolysis [54,56], enzymatic hydrolysis [41,75], and ultrasonication [67,76,77]. The second route is the bleaching process followed by TEMPO-mediated oxidation to isolate the CNF [68].…”

Simultaneous Effect of Ultrasonic and Chemical Treatment on the Extraction of Nanocellulose From Sugarcane Bagasse

“…Ultrasonication in the presence of acid and ionic liquid medium hydrolyzed the amorphous region of cellulose up to a certain extent. Some portions of the cellulosic fragment were completely broken to yield soluble oligo mono-saccharides [28]. α β θ the aromatic C = C vibration in-plane symmetrical stretching vibration of the aromatic ring in lignin [ 31 ].…”