Sugarcane bagasse whiskers: Extraction and characterizations

Author(s)

Teixeira, Eliangela de Morais ^[1] ; Bondancia, Thalita Jessika ^{[2, 1]} ; Ricardo Teodoro, Kelcilene Bruna ^{[2, 1]} ; Correa, Ana Carolina ^[1] ; Marconcini, Jose Manoel ^[1] ; Caparelli Mattoso, Luiz Henrique ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Embrapa Agr Instrumentat, Natl Nanotechnol Lab Agr LNNA, BR-13560970 Sao Carlos, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Fed Sao Carlos, Dept Chem, BR-13565905 Sao Carlos, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: INDUSTRIAL CROPS AND PRODUCTS; v. 33, n. 1, p. 63-66, JAN 2011.
• Web of Science Citations: 120

Abstract

This work evaluates the use of sugarcane bagasse (SCB) as a source of cellulose to obtain whiskers. These fibers were extracted after SCB underwent alkaline peroxide pre-treatment followed by acid hydrolysis at 45 degrees C. The influence of extraction time (30 and 75 min) on the properties of the nanofibers was investigated. Sugarcane bagasse whiskers (SCBW) were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in air atmosphere. The results showed that SCB could be used as source to obtain cellulose whiskers and they had needle-like structures with an average length (L)of 255 +/- 55 nm and diameter (D) of 4 +/- 2 nm, giving an aspect ratio (L/D) around 64. More drastic hydrolysis conditions (75 min) resulted in less thermally stable whiskers and caused some damage on the crystal structure of the cellulose as observed by XRD analysis. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (AU)