Volume no :12, Issue no: -1, July and October 2015

VALORIZATION OF AGRICULTURAL WASTES IN MOROCCO: EXTRACTION OF CELLULOSE NANOCRYSTALS FROM SUGARCANE BAGASSE FIBERS AS CASE STUDY

Author's: Nassima El Miri, Mounir El Achaby and Abderrahim Solhy
Pages: [63] - [88]
Received Date: November 25, 2015
Submitted by:
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18642/jmseat_7100121585

Abstract

Sugar production is a main agro-based industry in Morocco that generates various solid wastes. The sugarcane bagasse is one of the important wastes of this industry, which is mainly used in combustion for energy production within the sugar production plant. It is very interesting to valorize this waste for the production of high value added nanomaterials. The aim of this work is to isolate of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) from Moroccan sugarcane bagasse (SCB) by chemical methods. The pure cellulose was produced via alkaline and bleaching treatments, hence suitable for extracting of CNC. Acid hydrolysis process has been used to isolate the CNC using sulphuric acid at a concentration of 9M for 30 min and hydrochloric acid at two concentrations of 2M and 3M for 120 min. Several techniques, including Fourier transformed infrared, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy; were used to characterize the products at different stages of treatment. The effect of acid type, hydrolysis time and acid concentration on the morphology, dimensions, crystallinity, and thermal stability of CNC has been evaluated and discussed through this work. The obtained results show that the as-extracted CNC exhibit needle-like nanoparticles with a diameter range of 3-25nm and a length of 100-400nm depending on the hydrolysis conditions. This work is achieved in order to valorize the sugarcane bagasse that growth in Morocco in large quantity, which is mainly used actually in combustion for electricity production. In overall, the CNC obtained from Moroccan sugarcane bagasse have excellent properties and can be potentially used in various applications.

Keywords

agro-industrial residue, sugarcane bagasse, cellulose, cellulose nanocrystals, acid hydrolysis.