Nanocellulose Prepared from Cassava Residues by Mechanochemical Method and Its Hydrophobic Modification

Abstract

This study prepared nanocellulose from cassava residues by the mechanochemical method which adopted phosphoric acid as aids and used high-speed dispersion to offer mechanical force, aiming to improve the properties of such biodegradable materials as PLA, PHA and PVA and make full use of cassava residues. Stearic acid is used to improve the dispersity of the prepared nanocellulose, so that it can be well dispersed into some biodegradable materials with small polarity. In addition, these materials may also be hydrophobic after the addition of the modified nanocellulose. Nano Particle Analyzer, SEM and FTIR were applied to characterize the properties of the nanocellulose and the modified nanocellulose, and the dispersity of modified nanocellulose was characterized by the dispersity test. The results show that the size of the nanocellulose is between 15.1 and 18.1 nm, and there are a lot of small holes on its surface that leads to the increase of specific surface area. This modified method belongs to that of surface modification which can reduce the surface polarity of the nanocellulose and make it dispersed into the polar solvents.