Isolation and characterization of cellulose and α-cellulose from date palm biomass waste

Towards the utilization of different parts of date palm biomass waste, low-concentration acid-alkali treatment was used to isolate the contained cellulose and alpha-cellulose. The cellulose yields achieved from the rachis, leaflet, and fiber parts of the biomass were 74.70%, 71.50%, and 73.82%, respectively, while the corresponding alpha-cellulose yields were 78.63%, 75.64%, and 70.40%, respectively. The cellulose samples were bleached and characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD results revealed high crystallinity of both the cellulose and alpha-cellulose samples, while the TGA thermograms indicated that the alkali treatment completely removed lignin and hemicelluloses from the rachis. The results of this study demonstrate the promise of using date palm biomass waste as raw material to produce cellulose and alpha-cellulose.