Cellulose microfibres produced from banana plant wastes: Isolation and characterization

Cellulose microfibres from banana fibre waste have been isolated and characterised. Bleached banana waste fibres were hydrolysed, under different conditions, to study the effects of temperature, reaction time, and acid concentration on the properties of the resultant cellulose microfibres. As the concentration of acid used in the hydrolysis was increased, more stable aqueous suspensions of the cellulose product were obtained and the dimensions of the resulting cellulose microfibres were reduced. XRD studies reveal that cellulose prepared by such hydrolysis was more crystalline than the banana fibres. The effect of initial dimension of banana fibres on the size of cellulose microfibres was also examined. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.