Extraction of Cellulose Microfibrils from Cassava Pulp

摘要

Due to the increasing demand of alternatives to unrenewable petroleum supplies, the use of renewable materials for industrial applications is becoming more important. In this regard, cellulose microfibrils (CM) extracted from cassava pulp (CP) are one of promising materials. The objective of this work is to develop a simple chemical treatment to obtain cellulose microfibrils from CP. The process included alkali treatment and acid hydrolysis treatment. The alkali and acid treatments of CP were carried out by using NaOH and HCl solutions, respectively. In an effort to find the optimal conditions for these chemical treatments, various reactions with different temperatures and times were carried out. Besides that, sequence of two reactions (alkali treatment and acid hydrolysis treatment) was also varied in order to find out a proper reaction order for this chemical treatment. The morphological structure, chemical composition, degree of crystallinity and thermal properties of CM were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. The results demonstrate that this alkali - acid treatment can remove partially non-cellulosic materials from the structure of fibers and result in higher thermal stability and degree of crystallinity.