Preparation and characterization of nanofibrillated cellulose from waste sugarcane bagasse by mechanical force

Abstract

The effect of different mechanical force application methods was investigated relative to the structure and properties of nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) from sugarcane bagasse. The NFC was prepared by grinding, high pressure homogenization, and ultrasonication with chemical pretreatment. Fiber morphology, crystalline, chemical structures, and tensile property were analyzed to reveal the mechanisms of NFC production behind different mechanical treatments. The results showed that compared with grinding treatment, high pressure homogenization and ultrasonic treatment can obviously increase the aspect ratio and size uniformity of NFC. Ultrasonic treatment gave the best results. The combination of grinding, high pressure homogenization, and ultrasonic treatment resulted in NFC with the average diameter of 23.18 nm. With the shearing action of grinding, high pressure homogenization, and ultrasonic treatment, the mechanical properties, crystallinity and thermal stability of NFC were gradually enhanced. This results demonstrated that a very low-value agricultural waste product can be easily converted to a high performance nanocomposite with tensile strength of 153.6 MPa and strain at break of 8.83%.