Preparation and Characterization of Cellulose and Nanocellulose from Agro-industrial Waste - Cassava Peel

摘要

Cassava peel is an agro-industrial waste which is available in huge quantities in Lampung Province of Indonesia. This work was conducted to evaluate the potential of cassava peel as a source of cellulose and nanocellulose. Cellulose was extracted from cassava peel by using different chemical treatment, and the nanocellulose was prepared by hydrolysis with the use of sulfuric acid. The best methods of cellulose extraction from cassava peels are using alkali treatment followed by a bleaching process. The cellulose yield from this methods was 17.8% of dry base cassava peel, while the yield from nitric and sulfuric methods were about 10.78% and 10.32% of dry base cassava peel respectively. The hydrolysis was performed at the temperature of 50 °C for 2 hours. The intermediate reaction product obtained after each stage of the treatments was characterized. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed the removal of non-cellulosic constituent. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that the crystallinity of cellulose increased after hydrolysis. Morphological investigation was performed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The size of particle was confirmed by Particle Size Analyzer (PSA) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM).