Authors : Voravadee Suchiya, Pranut Potiyaraj and Duangdao Aht-Ong
Abstract: Two types of agricultural wastes, Bagasse (BG) and Banana Stem (BS) were extracted and hydrolyzed into Microcrystalline Cellulose (MCC) by acid hydrolysis using HCl and H2SO4 . The suitable condition for preparing MCC from each agricultural waste was investigated. From the results of Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), the suitable NaOH concentrations for delignification of BG and BS fiber were 0.5 and 1 M, respectively. The most appropriate bleaching condition giving high whiteness and less degradation of both pulps was 6% H2O2 in alkali solution. For H2SO4 hydrolysis, BG and BS MCC achieved their unchanged average particle sizes (6-7 μm) and equilibrium Degree of Polymerization (DP) values (233-256) within 60 and 30 min, respectively. Whereas, the optimum conditions for BG and BS hydrolyzed with 2.5 N HCl to obtain their unchanged average particle sizes (6-7 μm) and equilibrium DP values (238-303) were at 120 and 60 min, respectively. In addition, particle size of all obtained BG and BS MCCs was smaller than Commercial Microcrystalline Cellulose (CM-MCC).
Voravadee Suchiya, Pranut Potiyaraj and Duangdao Aht-Ong, 2016. Preparation and Characterization of Microcrystalline Cellulose from Cellulose Based-Agro Wastes. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 11: 2566-2572.