A common strategy to extracting cellulose nanoentities from different plants

In order to obtain cellulose nanoentities like nanofibres (CNF) and nanocrystals (CNC) from sisal (S), hemp (He) and flax (F) fibres, a new succession of specific chemical treatments including extractives (E), prealkalization (PA), alkalization (A), acetylation (Ac) and acid hydrolysis (H) treatments have been developed. Cellulose nanoentities obtained have been characterized by different techniques. FTIR spectra confirmed the removal of non-cellulosic components after chemical treatments. XRD results showed that all samples exhibited cellulose I crystalline structure and the crystallinity index of cellulose nanoentities was increased about 30% relative to raw fibres owing to removal of non-cellulosic components. The thermal stability of samples decreased after using an acid medium. AFM images confirmed that cellulose nanofibres and nanocrystals were obtained. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.