Crystallinity of nanocellulose isolated from the flower waste of pine tree (Pinus merkusii)

Abstract

Pine flower is an agricultural waste that has high cellulose content. Cellulose is a major material for making nanocellulose. Nanocellulose has been isolated from the flower waste of the pine tree (Pinus merkusii). The process was initiated by delignification and bleaching process with sodium hydroxide 6% and sodium hypochlorite 6% followed by hydrolysis with acetic acid under stirring at 45°C for 1 hour. Three different concentrations of acetic acid (10%, 30%, and 60%) were studied toward nanocellulose crystallinity. Nanocellulose was characterized by FTIR, XRD spectroscopy, and TEM analysis. The result shows that the % yield of nanocellulose was 87.4%, 94.2%, and 91.8% respectively. Nanocellulose has high crystallinity as indicated by the crystallinity index. Besides, the nanocellulose width is 12.82-21.36 nm and the length is 267.12-326.87 nm.