Synthesis and Characterization of a Novel Maize Cob Based Nanocellulose
E. Cheran
Department of Nanoscience and Technology, Directorate of Natural Resource Management, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
C. Sharmila Rahale *
Department of Nanoscience and Technology, Directorate of Natural Resource Management, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
A. Lakshmanan
School of Post Graduate Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
P. Subramanian
Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
K. Raja
Department of Nanoscience and Technology, Directorate of Natural Resource Management, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
P. Divyabharathi
Department of Nanoscience and Technology, Directorate of Natural Resource Management, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Nanocellulose is a renewable nanomaterial that has received a lot of attention due to its use in a variety of applications from the biomedical field to food packaging. In this study, Nano cellulose (NC) was extracted from Maize cob, using the Acid hydrolysis process. The extracted NC was characterized using Particle Size Analyzer (PSA) for particle size, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) for functional groups, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) for getting the morphology of NC and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) for crystallinity analysis. The result showed that, the synthesized NC with a particle size of 213.5nm and zeta potential of -34.5mV. The FT-IR analysis showed that the functional groups stretched at C-O, C=O, and S=O with a wavenumber of 1216cm-1, and 1737cm-1,1365cm-1 in NC. XRD analysis shows a peak around 2θ = 15.80, 22.03, 26.69, 40.44 which shows the structure of cellulose. SEM and TEM images of the extraction process of NC show the morphological and structural information of cellulose and Nanocellulose.
Keywords: Acid hydrolysis, alkali treatment, bleaching, maize cob, nanocellulose