Nanocellulose Synthesis by One Pot Method with Fe Catalyst and Gelatine Capping Agent

Nanocellulose has recently drawn attention because of its outstanding physical and mechanical properties. Even though nanocellulose is already a ubiquitous material in research, its synthesis and agglomeration still hinder the process of commercialisation. A shorter process will provide savings for larger scale production, and adding a capping agent can facilitate storage and handling on a commercial scale. In this study, the synthesis of nanocellulose was carried out using a one-pot method where the delignification and hydrolysis of cellulose were carried out in the same reactor. Delignification and bleaching used 30% (v/v) H O at 90oC for 5 hr. Meanwhile, hydrolysis using 8% (w/w) H2SO4 and 3% (w/w) of Fe(NO3)3.9H2O 0.22 M as a catalyst, held for 1 hr at 75oC, resulted in the lowest lignin composition 49.7% (w/w). Several analyses were carried out for the nanocellulose. TEM analysis showed the nanocellulose size from 5 to 70 nm. FTIR analysis showed that the nanocellulose was alike commercial cellulose. XRD analysis showed the crystallinity of nanocellulose is still relatively low (35.7%). The addition of a capping agent to nanocellulose showed a reduction of agglomeration for the ratio of nanocellulose to gelatin 1.00:0.75.(author)