Extraction of lignocellulosic constituents from cow dung: preparation and characterisation of nanocellulose

Continuous growth of the livestock population over the years has led to the generation of huge livestock waste. Inadequate management of animal waste and its poor disposal poses a serious public health issue and also leads to environmental pollution. In the recent decade, the rational use of lignocellulosic biomass towards preparation of bioproducts such as biofuels and biotextile has come up as a promising alternative for the efficient utilisation of animal waste biomass. Hence, the current study is focused on the efficient utilisation of an abundant source of lignocellulosic constituents, i.e. cow dung by the extraction and estimation of cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose, respectively by an optimised kraft pulping method. The extracted cellulose was evaluated for the degree of polymerisation and was further used for the preparation of nanocellulose which has a wide range of applications. Cellulose and nanocellulose so obtained were morphologically and spectroscopically characterised by SEM-EDX, CHNS elemental analysis, TEM, and FT-IR techniques. Further, nanocellulose was also evaluated for its physical properties such as crystallinity index and zeta potential, which revealed their good crystallinity and excellent particle stability profile. Hence, this study is an innovative approach towards the valorisation of cow dung waste biomass into useful biomaterial, i.e. nanocellulose.

Automated summary

The continuous growth of livestock population has led to the generation of significant amounts of waste. Inadequate management and disposal of animal waste pose serious public health and environmental issues. Recent research has shown that using lignocellulosic biomass for producing biofuels and biotextiles is a promising alternative for efficient utilization of animal waste biomass.