Synthesis of nano bacterial cellulose using acid hydrolysis-ultrasonication treatment

Bacterial cellulose is a product from coconut water fermentation which is known as bio-cellulose. One application of bio-cellulose is by synthesising it into nano-cellulose for providing a new material. Nano bacterial cellulose will become an innovation of polymer research and application. By using nano-bacterial cellulose as reinforcement in the nano-composite manufacturer and adding it into different of polymer matrix, the product quality is improved. Provision of nano-bacterial cellulose by hydrolysis and ultrasonication methods could be done with several methods. This research aims to synthesize and study the characteristics of nano-bacterial cellulose based on the two treatments above. The results found out that strong acids can remove amorphous parts and cut off cellulose chains into nano-cellulose, whereas ultrasonic produced smaller size particles, reduce particle agglomeration and homogenous product. The best treatment in this research was HCl 5M with hydrolysis time 48 hours and 55°C process temperature. This treatment produced nano-cellulose 99.99 nm in particle size with 86,6% distribution. Characteristic of produced nano-bacterial Cellulose are β-Cellulose with grid parameter a: 8.2600Å b: 10.3880Å c: 7.8400Å, volume 669.27 ųand crystal shape is monoclinic. Index crystallinity is 76%. (paper)