scholarly journals Characterization of Microcrystalline Cellulose Isolated from Conocarpus Fiber

Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 2926
Author(s):  
H. Fouad ◽  
Lau Kia Kian ◽  
Mohammad Jawaid ◽  
Majed D. Alotaibi ◽  
Othman Y. Alothman ◽  
...  

Conocarpus fiber is an abundantly available and sustainable cellulosic biomass. With its richness in cellulose content, it is potentially used for manufacturing microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), a cellulose derivative product with versatile industrial applications. In this work, different samples of bleached fiber (CPBLH), alkali-treated fiber (CPAKL), and acid-treated fiber (CPMCC) were produced from Conocarpus through integrated chemical process of bleaching, alkaline cooking, and acid hydrolysis, respectively. Characterizations of samples were carried out with Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), Fourier Transform Infrared-Ray (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric (TGA), and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). From morphology study, the bundle fiber feature of CPBLH disintegrated into micro-size fibrils of CPMCC, showing the amorphous compounds were substantially removed through chemical depolymerization. Meanwhile, the elemental analysis also proved that the traces of impurities such as cations and anions were successfully eliminated from CPMCC. The CPMCC also gave a considerably high yield of 27%, which endowed it with great sustainability in acting as alternative biomass for MCC production. Physicochemical analysis revealed the existence of crystalline cellulose domain in CPMCC had contributed it 75.7% crystallinity. In thermal analysis, CPMCC had stable decomposition behavior comparing to CPBLH and CPAKL fibers. Therefore, Conocarpus fiber could be a promising candidate for extracting MCC with excellent properties in the future.

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 3030
Author(s):  
Naved Azum ◽  
Mohammad Jawaid ◽  
Lau Kia Kian ◽  
Anish Khan ◽  
Maha Moteb Alotaibi

Washingtonia is a desert plant with great sustainability and renewability in nature and is abundantly cultivated across global urban regions. Its fibre biomass comprises cellulose as the major structural part, and this is why it can be potentially utilized as an alternative biomaterial for manufacturing microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) products that can be widely applied in industrial fields. In the present study, NaOH-treated Washingtonia fibre (WAKL), NaClO2-treated Washingtonia fibre (WBLH), and Washingtonia microcrystalline cellulose (WMCC) were extracted through combined treatments of alkalization, bleaching, and acidic hydrolysis, respectively. The obtained chemically treated fibre samples were subjected to characterization to investigate their morphology, physico-chemistry, and thermal stability. In a morphological examination, the large bunch WAKL fibre reduced into small size WMCC fibrils, evidencing that the lignin and hemicellulose components were greatly eliminated through chemical dissolution. The elemental composition revealed that almost all impurities of anions and cations had been removed, particularly for the WMCC sample, showing its high purity of cellulose content. Additionally, the WMCC sample could attain at 25% yield, giving it the advantage for feasible economic production. Furthermore, the physicochemical analysis, Fourier Transform Infrared-ray (FTIR), indicated the presence of a crystalline cellulose region within the WMCC structure, which had promoted it with high crystallinity of 72.6% as examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). As for thermal analysis, WMCC showed greater thermal stability comparing to WAKL and WBLC samples at high temperature. Therefore, Washingtonia fibre can be a reliable biosubstituent to replace other plant material for MCC production in the future.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oyeyemi O. Ajayi ◽  
Michael A. Held ◽  
Allan M. Showalter

Abstract Background Arabinogalactan-proteins (AGPs) are heavily glycosylated with type II arabinogalactan (AG) polysaccharides attached to hydroxyproline residues in their protein backbone. Type II AGs are necessary for plant growth and critically important for the establishment of normal cellular functions. Despite the importance of type II AGs in plant development, our understanding of the underlying role of these glycans/sugar residues in mucilage formation and seed coat epidermal cell development is poorly understood and far from complete. One such sugar residue is the glucuronic acid residues of AGPs that are transferred onto AGP glycans by the action of β-glucuronosyltransferase genes/enzymes. Results Here, we have characterized two β-glucuronosyltransferase genes, GLCAT14A and GLCAT14C, that are involved in the transfer of β-glucuronic acid (GlcA) to type II AGs. Using a reverse genetics approach, we observed that glcat14a-1 mutants displayed subtle alterations in mucilage pectin homogalacturonan (HG) compared to wild type (WT), while glcat14a-1glcat14c-1 mutants displayed much more severe mucilage phenotypes, including loss of adherent mucilage and significant alterations in cellulose ray formation and seed coat morphology. Monosaccharide composition analysis showed significant alterations in the sugar amounts of glcat14a-1glcat14c-1 mutants relative to WT in the adherent and non-adherent seed mucilage. Also, a reduction in total mucilage content was observed in glcat14a-1glcat14c-1 mutants relative to WT. In addition, glcat14a-1glcat14c-1 mutants showed defects in pectin formation, calcium content and the degree of pectin methyl-esterification (DM) as well as reductions in crystalline cellulose content and seed size. Conclusions These results raise important questions regarding cell wall polymer interactions and organization during mucilage formation. We propose that the enzymatic activities of GLCAT14A and GLCAT14C play partially redundant roles and are required for the organization of the mucilage matrix and seed size in Arabidopsis thaliana. This work brings us a step closer towards identifying potential gene targets for engineering plant cell walls for industrial applications.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander J. Stirk ◽  
Fabio E. S. Souza ◽  
Jenny Gerster ◽  
Fatemeh M. Mir ◽  
Avedis Karadeolian ◽  
...  

Crystallisations on both the academic and industrial scale often use large volumes of solvent. In order decrease the environmental impact of such processes, new techniques must be discovered that increase the efficiency of the solvents used. Introduced here is a process that combines repurposed industry standard hardware and aspects of mechanochemistry to produce a technique we call “Vapour Assisted Tumbling” (VAT). Pharmaceutical and well-known cocrystals and salts were formed by tumbling the coformers in an atmosphere of vaporised solvent, in this study, methanol (MeOH). This was done inside a custom built analogue of an industrial rotary cone dryer (RCD). It was found that a desired solid form could be obtained as monitored by powder X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. By repurposing industrial RCDs, it is feasible that solid forms can be crystallised with both minimal and reusable/recyclable solvent – drastically lowering the environmental impact of such transformations.


1990 ◽  
Vol 192 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.J. Jones ◽  
W.A. Turner ◽  
D. Pang ◽  
W. Paul

ABSTRACTResults from structural measurements on r.f. glow discharge produced a-Ge:H films have been found to be substrate dependent. The variations in the results were found to depend on both the substrate temperature, Ts, and the substrate yield strength. Differential scanning calorimetry results were particularly affected by these parameters. For films prepared at Ts = 150°C, the DSC spectra contain two exothermic peaks when the films are deposited on low yield strength substrates while only one exothermic peak is present for films deposited on high yield strength substrates. One exothermic DSC peak is seen in spectra for all films prepared at Ts = 300°C no matter what substrates were used. This DSC spectral dependence is attributed to differences in the microstructure of films deposited at the two substrate temperatures, as seen in TEM micrographs. X-ray diffraction measurements performed on films annealed to various temperatures show that all of the exothermic DSC peaks described above are associated with the crystallization process. Thus, for the films prepared at low Ts, crystallization is either a one or two step process depending on the yield strength of the substrate.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Sher ◽  
Muhammad Faheem ◽  
Abdul Ghani ◽  
Rashid Mehmood ◽  
Hamza Rehman ◽  
...  

Cellulases are the hydrolytic group of enzymes, responsible for release of sugars in the bioconversion of the cellulosic biomass into a variety of value added industrial products. Fungal isolated cellulases are well studied and playing a significant role in various industrial processes. Enzymatic depolymerisation of cellulosic material has been done by the various fungal isolated enzymes. In the present study, the cultivation conditions for cellulase production from Aspergillus species were optimized. Optimization of scarification conditions such as time course, inoculum size, carbon source and concentration, nitrogen source, various pH levels were performed for the production of extracellular carboxymethyl cellulase and endoglucanase enzyme. The result exhibited, 15 % inoculums size, corncobs 2 % concentration, Urea and medium pH 7 at 30oC supported high yield of carboxymethyl cellulase (38.80 U/ml/min) and exoglucanase enzyme (10.94 U/ml/min) through a submerged fermentation (SmF). In future biotechnological applications in cellulase enzyme production attain a vital role to obtain high degradable yield.


Polymers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoting Li ◽  
Wenxia Jia ◽  
Beibei Dong ◽  
Huan Yuan ◽  
Fengmei Su ◽  
...  

Isotactic polypropylene filled with 1 wt.% multi-walled carbon nanotubes (iPP/MWCNTs) were prepared, and their crystallization behavior induced by pressurizing to 2.0 GPa with adjustable rates from 2.5 to 1.3 × 104 MPa/s was studied. The obtained samples were characterized by combining wide angle X-ray diffraction, small angle X-ray scattering, differential scanning calorimetry, transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy techniques. It was found that pressurization is a simple way to prepare iPP/MWCNTs composites in mesophase, γ-phase, or their blends. Two threshold pressurization rates marked as R1 and R2 were identified, while R1 corresponds to the onset of mesomorphic iPP formation. When the pressurization rate is lower than R1 only γ-phase generates, with its increasing mesophase begins to generate and coexist with γ-phase, and if it exceeds R2 only mesophase can generate. When iPP/MWCNTs crystallized in γ-phase, compared with the neat iPP, the existence of MWCNTs can promote the nucleation of γ-phase, leading to the formation of γ-crystal with thicker lamellae. If iPP/MWCNTs solidified in mesophase, MWCNTs can decrease the growth rate of the nodular structure, leading to the formation of mesophase with smaller nodular domains (about 9.4 nm). Mechanical tests reveal that, γ-iPP/MWCNTs composites prepared by slow pressurization display high Young’s modulus, high yield strength and high elongation at break, and meso-iPP/MWCNTs samples have excellent deformability because of the existence of nodular morphology. In this sense, the pressurization method is proved to be an efficient approach to regulate the crystalline structure and the properties of iPP/MWCNTs composites.


Fibers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Andrea Bloise ◽  
Domenico Miriello ◽  
Rosanna De Rosa ◽  
Giovanni Vespasiano ◽  
Ilaria Fuoco ◽  
...  

Manganese ores, especially the oxyhydroxides in their different forms, are the dominant Mn-bearing minerals that occur in marine and terrestrial environments, where they are typically found as poorly crystalline and intermixed phases. Mn oxyhydroxides have a huge range of industrial applications and are able to exert a strong control on the mobility of trace metals. This paper reports the results of a detailed study on the Mn oxyhydroxides occurring in the manganiferous deposit outcropping in the Messinian sediments from Serra D’Aiello (Southern Italy). Nine Mn samples were characterized in detail using X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry (TG), transmission electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive spectrometry (TEM/EDS), and X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The results indicated that the Mn deposit included the oxyhydroxide mineral species birnessite, todorokite, and rancièite. The size, morphology, and chemical composition of Mn oxyhydroxide samples were investigated in order to define their impact on the environment and human health. Todorokite displayed asbestiform shapes and could disperse fibers of breathable size in the air. Furthermore, since in-depth characterization of minerals within Mn deposits may be the first step toward understanding the genetic processes of manganese deposits, hypotheses about the genesis of the Mn oxyhydroxide deposits were discussed.


Author(s):  
Yasmine Mahmoud ◽  
Zitouni Safidine ◽  
Naima Belhaneche-Bensemra

In this study, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was isolated from walnut and apricot shells (WS and AS) as agricultural wastes in order to use it as reinforcement in polymer composites. The microcrystalline cellulose was extracted by alkaline treatment and bleached by peroxide as an environmentally friendly treatment, called walnut cellulose (WC) and apricot cellulose (AC). The chemical composition of the samples was set according to the Technical Association of Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPP). After treatments, the alpha-cellulose content increased by about 23 % for the two used cellulose sources. The structural and morphological properties of the samples were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in the attenuated total reflectance mode (ATR-FTIR), optical microscopy (OM), X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The crystallinity index values evaluated for WC and AC via X-ray diffraction were respectively 86.4 and 80.3 %. The alkaline soluble fractions of walnut (ASW) and apricot (ASA) shells were recovered and characterized by OM and ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. Furthermore, their chemical composition was analyzed. The characterization and the properties of the WC and AC were similar to those of commercial MCC and MCC prepared in literature from wood and some agricultural wastes.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (18) ◽  
pp. 5313
Author(s):  
Amina Hachaichi ◽  
Benalia Kouini ◽  
Lau Kia Kian ◽  
Mohammad Asim ◽  
Hassan Fouad ◽  
...  

Date palm fiber (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a natural biopolymer rich in lignocellulosic components. Its high cellulose content lends them to the extraction of tiny particles like microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC). These cellulose-derived small size particles can be used as an alternative biomaterial in wide fields of application due to their renewability and sustainability. In the present work, NCC (A) and NCC (B) were isolated from date palm MCC at 60 min and 90 min hydrolysis times, respectively. The isolated NCC product was subjected to characterization to study their properties differences. With the hydrolysis treatment, the yields of produced NCC could be attained at between 22% and 25%. The infrared-ray functional analysis also revealed the isolated NCC possessed a highly exposed cellulose compartment with minimized lignoresidues of lignin and hemicellulose. From morphology evaluation, the nanoparticles’ size was decreased gradually from NCC (A) (7.51 nm width, 139.91 nm length) to NCC (B) (4.34 nm width, 111.51 nm length) as a result of fragmentation into cellulose fibrils. The crystallinity index was found increasing from NCC (A) to NCC (B). With 90 min hydrolysis time, NCC (B) showed the highest crystallinity index of 71% due to its great cellulose rigidity. For thermal analysis, NCC (B) also exhibited stable heat resistance, in associating with its highly crystalline cellulose structure. In conclusion, the NCC isolated from date palm MCC would be a promising biomaterial for various applications such as biomedical and food packaging applications.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 3799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cüneyt Ünlü ◽  
Eric Pollet ◽  
Luc Avérous

Polyester and/or polythioester grafted chitosan copolymers were synthesized. For that, poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), poly(ε-thiocaprolactone) (PTCL), and their copolymers were first synthesized by ring opening polymerization. Copolymers with caprolactone:thiocaprolactone (CL:TCL) molar ratios of 2:1, 1:1, 1:2 were synthesized. All of the synthesized macromolecular architectures were characterized using different spectral (Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR), X-Ray diffraction (XRD)) and thermal (Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)) methods. Grafting was then performed according two distinct routes: (i) using a blend of both homopolymers (PCL and PTCL) or (ii) using pre-synthesized copolymers with controlled CL:TCL ratios. Hexamethylene diisocyanate was used as a grafting/coupling agent through urethane bonds with high yield. Grafting preferentially occurred at sulfur sites. The results indicated that PTCL is more reactive and favorable than PCL for grafting onto chitosan. With the homopolymers blend grafting route, the corresponding materials mostly had a higher PTCL portion than expected. To obtain polyester grafted chitosan with a determined CL:TCL ratio, the copolymer grafting route would yield better results.


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