Isolation and properties of cellulose nanofibrils from coconut palm petioles by different mechanical process

PLoS One. 2015 Apr 14;10(4):e0122123. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0122123. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

In this study, cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) were successfully isolated from coconut palm petiole residues falling off naturally with chemical pretreatments and mechanical treatments by a grinder and a homogenizor. FTIR spectra analysis showed that most of hemicellulose and lignin were removed from the fiber after chemical pretreatments. The compositions of CNFS indicated that high purity of nanofibrils with cellulose contain more than 95% was obtained. X-ray diffractogram demonstrated that chemical pretreatments significantly increased the crystallinity of CNFs from 38.00% to 70.36%; however, 10-15 times of grinding operation followed by homogenizing treatment after the chemical pretreatments did not significantly improve the crystallinity of CNFs. On the contrary, further grinding operation could destroy crystalline regions of the cellulose. SEM image indicated that high quality of CNFs could be isolated from coconut palm petiole residues with chemical treatments in combination of 15 times of grinding followed by 10 times of homogenization and the aspect ratio of the obtained CNFs ranged from 320 to 640. The result of TGA-DTG revealed that the chemical-mechanical treatments improved thermal stability of fiber samples, and the CNFs with 15 grinding passing times had the best thermal stability. This work suggests that the CNFs can be successfully extracted from coconut palm petiole residues and it may be a potential feedstock for nanofiber reinforced composites due to its high aspect ratio and crystallinity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cellulose / isolation & purification*
  • Chlorides / chemistry
  • Cocos / chemistry*
  • Crystallization
  • Hydrochloric Acid / chemistry
  • Lignin / isolation & purification
  • Mechanical Phenomena
  • Nanofibers / chemistry*
  • Plant Leaves / chemistry
  • Plant Stems / chemistry
  • Polysaccharides / isolation & purification
  • Sodium Hydroxide / chemistry
  • Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
  • Trees

Substances

  • Chlorides
  • Polysaccharides
  • Sodium Hydroxide
  • hemicellulose
  • Cellulose
  • Lignin
  • Hydrochloric Acid
  • chlorite

Grants and funding

The project name is Fabrication of Functional packaging nano materials from Coconut Palm Petioles, and the Project No. is 2013102980182 (http://www.ec.js.edu.cn/art/2013/9/25/art-4266-131624.html). CYX received funding from the Education Department of Jiangsu Province. This work was also financially supported by "Jiangsu Overseas Research & Training Program for University Prominent Young & Middle-aged Teachers and Presidents", "National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31300483)", "Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (Grant No. BK20130971)" and "A Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.