Cellulose crystals (CC) were chemically derived from jute by alkali treatment, bleaching and subsequent hydrolysis with 40 % sulfuric acid. Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) suggested sufficient removal of lignin and hemicellulose from the raw jute and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies demonstrated the preparation of microcrystalline cellulose. CC reinforced polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composite was prepared by solution casting method under laminar flow. In order to maintain uniform dispersion of 3-15 % (w/w) of the CC in the composite N, N dimethylformamide (DMF) was used as a dispersant. FT-IR, XRD, SEM, thermogravimetric analysis (TG, DTG and DTA) and thermomechanical analyses (TMA) were used to characterize the CC and the composites. The study of tensile properties showed that tensile strength (TS) and modulus (TM) increase with increasing CC content up to 9 % and then decrease with the addition of a high content of CC (above 9 %) because of the aggregation of CCs in the composite. The highest TS (43.9 MPa) and TM (2,190 MPa) have been shown to be the composite prepared with 9 % CC and the lowest to be from pure PVA film 17.1 and 1470 MPa. In addition, the composites have showed no cytotoxicity that can also prohibit microbial growth and; hence, it can be a potential material for biomedical applications such as wound healing accelerators.
Keywords: Biocomposite; Crystalline cellulose; Jute; PVA; Reinforcing agent; Wound healing.