Morphology of nanocelluloses and micro-sized cellulose fibers isolated by acid hydrolysis method

Mi Jung Cho, Byung Dae Park

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

As a part of utilizing the nanocellulose (NC) from lignocellulosic components of wood biomass, this paper reports preliminary results on the products of sulfuric acid hydrolysis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the morphology of both NC and micro-sized cellulose fiber (MCF) isolated by acid hydrolysis from commercial microcrystalline cellulose (MCC). Field emission - scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to observe the acid hydrolysis suspension, NC, and MCF. The electron microscopy observations showed that the acid hydrolysis suspension, before separation into NC and MCF by centrifugation, was composed of nano-sized NCs and micro-sized MCFs. The morphology of isolated NCs was a whisker form of rod-like NCs. Measurements of individual NCs using TEM indicated dimensions of 6.96 ± 0.87 nm wide by 178 ± 55 nm long. Observations of the MCFs showed that most of the MCC particles had de-fibered into relatively long fibers with a diameter of 3 - 9 μm, depending on the degree of acid hydrolysis. These results suggest that proper technologies are required to effectively realize the potentials of both NCs and MCFs.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)26-32
Number of pages7
JournalPalpu Chongi Gisul/Journal of Korea Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry
Volume41
Issue number5
StatePublished - 2009

Keywords

  • Acid hydrolysis
  • FE-SEM
  • Micro-sized cellulose fiber
  • Morphology
  • Nanocellulose
  • TEM

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