Facile extraction of cellulose nanocrystals

Abstract

A simple process for extracting cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) is proposed that only uses high-pressure homogenization (HPH) controlling a process temperature. The proposed process was assessed and compared with normal production through acidic hydrolysis. Temperature-controlled HPH produced CNCs with high crystallinity, which linearly increased with increasing process temperature over 20 passes. The CNCs had uniform widths and lengths in the ranges of 4-14 nm and 60-320 nm, respectively. Undesirable chemical reaction can be avoided with the proposed process because no chemical was used to promote the CNC extraction. This method is an efficient and sustainable green approach to CNC production.

Keywords: Cellulose nanocrystal; High-pressure homogenizer; Mechanical extraction.