Abstract
This study reports the preparation (80 min) of rice husk (RH)-derived cellulose nanowhiskers (CNWs) via microwave-irradiation. The unique features of RH-CNWs and the intermediate products were validated with respect to the alteration of morphological structure, particle dimension, crystalline pattern, chemical compositions, functionalities, thermal stability and surface charge. With the integration of microwave heating (MW), the isolation of nano-sized fragments from the matrix of amorphous and non-cellulosic materials has been successfully accomplished, recorded a high conversion yield at 61.5%. The average length and diameter of RH-CNWs were 264.35 nm and 25.26 nm, respectively, recording an average aspect ratio at 10.47. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed a crystallinity index of 65.9%, and the diffraction pattern was identical to type-Iβ crystalline cellulose. Further clarifications with respect to the surface functionality, thermal stability and composition analyses have verified the successive esterification of sulfate functional groups over the surface of RH-CNWs, leading to a higher thermal stability and zeta-potential (ζ = − 44.50 mV). Given the explicit characteristics of MW, the synergistic interactions of microwave-chemical actions have offered the additional impact force and dipolar rotation, accelerating the cleavage of hydrogen bonds and complete removal of amorphous domains from the RH surface.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), with the Project Code: FRGS/1/2021/STG05/USM/02/8, and Project No.: 203/PREDAC/6071522.
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This research study was supported by Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), with the Project Code:FRGS/1/2021/STG05/USM/02/8, and Project No.:203/PREDAC/6071522.
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All the authors have made substantial contributions to the conception and design of the experiment. K.Y. Lim contributed in terms of CNW preparation, performance experiment, data analysis, and preparation of the article. K.Y. Foo is responsible for revising and approving the final version for publication. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. All data included in this study will be made available upon request by the corresponding authors.
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Lim, K.Y., Foo, K.Y. Facile synthesis of nanocrystalline cellulose from rice husk by microwave heating: evaluation of morphological architectures from the macro-to-nano dimensions. Cellulose 31, 9661–9679 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-024-06180-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-024-06180-5