Isolation of cellulose nanocrystals from plum seed shells, structural and morphological characterization

摘要

Plum seed shells (PS) have been successfully used as a source for cellulose nanocrystals isolation. Alkali treatment or hot-water extraction and acid hydrolysis removed non-cellulosic components and released cellulose nanocrystals (CNC). CNC with different lengths between 100 and 800 nm and no more than 14 nm in height were detected by AFM. The crystallinity strongly increased after these treatments, from 38% for raw PS to 51% and 54% depending on the treatment, due to hemicelluloses and lignin removal. The results showed that a low-cost by-product of food industry can be converted into a valuable material, cellulose nanocrystals. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.