Extraction, Purification and Characterization of Nanocrystalline Cellulose from Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms: A Common Aquatic Weed Water Hyacinth

ABSTRACT

Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms, commonly called as water hyacinth, is a hydrophytic weed found in the tropical and subtropical areas. Eutrophication of the water bodies results due to its overgrowth. Many conservation steps have been taken to utilize this plant as biofertilizer, biogas and also for water purification. In the present investigation, nanocrystalline cellulose was extracted from Eichhorniacrassipes (Mart.) Solms through a series of processes viz., alkalization, bleaching, acid hydrolysis and sonication. After the chemical process, the obtained product at each stage was characterized to analyze the morphology, chemical characteristics and the thermal property. FTIR analysis reports the peaks at 1030 cm⁻¹, 1055 cm⁻¹ and 3000–2800 cm⁻¹, which refer to C–O–C stretching vibration and C–H symmetric stretching validating the extracted cellulose and the efficacy of the process. The onset of degradation for raw water hyacinth and extracted cellulose occurs at 253.4°C and 226.9°C in thermogravimetric analysis. The particle size analysis analysis for sonicated sample shows that 93.02 nm proved that the sonicated sample is in nano size. In scanning electron microscopy, the morphology changes of each step processed water hyacinth and extracted cellulose have been studied.

摘要

Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.)是一种水生杂草，见于热带和亚热带地区. 水体富营养化是水体生长过度所致. 为了利用该植物作为生物肥料、沼气和水净化，已经采取了许多保护措施. 本研究采用碱化、漂白、酸水解、超声波等工艺，Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.)溶剂中提取纳米纤维素. 在化学过程结束后，对所制得的产品进行了各阶段的表征，分析了产物的形态、化学特性和热性能. FTIR分析报告1030cm-11055cm-1和3000-2800cm-1的峰，这两个峰分别是C-O-C拉伸振动和C-H对称拉伸，验证了提取纤维素的有效性和工艺效果. 原水葫芦和提取纤维素的降解开始于253.4°C和226.9°C TGA的中. 对超声样品进行了PSA分析，结果表明，93.02nm的超声处理样品为纳米级. 在扫描电镜下，研究了水葫芦和提取纤维素的形态变化.

关键词:

• 溶胶
• 水葫芦
• 纳米纤维素
• 结构表征

KEYWORDS:

• Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms
• water hyacinth
• nanocrystalline cellulose
• structural characterization

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the chairman, trustee, principal and deans of Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam, for providing the necessary facilities.