Extraction of Cellulose Nano Crystalline from Cotton by Ultrasonic and Its Morphological and Structural Characterization

Abstract

Cellulose nano-crystals (CNCs) were obtained from native cotton fibers by sulphuric acid hydrolysis with range of 30% to 60%, followed by sonication using ultrasonic technology. Nano cellulose has been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectra. TEM and SEM showed nano fibres - like morphology for low acid concentration, while increasing the acid rate to 40% - 60% showed rod-like shape particles and spherical nano particles. Nano cellulose was quite different from that of unsonicated samples. X-ray diffraction data showed that the fibres had been transformed from cellulose (native) to nano cellulose crystal structure, which manifests significant conversion of cellulose. Nano cellulose exhibited identical FTIR spectra quite different from that of unsonicated samples.