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Isolation and Characterization of Cellulose from Sweet Sorghum Bagasse

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Abstract

Sweet sorghum bagasse represents a potential low-cost biomass which can be valorized to produce different value-added lignocellulosic platform chemicals of economic importance. The focus of the present study is the pretreatment of sweet sorghum bagasse for efficient delignification, separation of pure cellulose and its structural characterization. Sweet sorghum bagasse was subjected to mechanical commutation followed by steam washing, organosolv extraction (methanol and toluene, 1:2) and alkaline hydrogen peroxide treatment for efficient delignification. Chemical analysis revealed that cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin content (per cent recovered) after different pretreatment was 720 g (98 %), 6 g (1.1 %) and 20 g (0.9 %), respectively. Structural characterization of untreated sweet sorghum bagasse and recovered cellulose was performed using FT-IR, CP-MAS 13C NMR spectroscopy, XRD, and thermogravimetric analyses. The cellulose preparation obtained after chemical pretreatments had typical cellulose structure with high crystallinity as compared to the untreated substrate. SEM micrographs revealed the surface topography wherein the waxy layer on the surface of this material disappeared and the texture became thinner and striated. The pretreatment methods employed were able to produce cellulose of high purity with >98 % lignin removal.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial assistance from the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India for executing the project. The authors are grateful to Dr. Belum V.S. Reddy, Principal Scientist, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, Medak district, Andhra Pradesh, India for providing the sweet sorghum bagasse. The authors acknowledge the kind help extended by Dr. K. Ravi Kumar, Head and Mrs. Nilofer Rahman, X-ray Crystallographic Unit for the technical support on X-ray diffraction studies.

Conflict of interest

We declare that there is no conflict of interest with any researcher or funding agency.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical Biology Laboratory, Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad, 500 007, India

    C. Ganesh Kumar, Soma Gupta & Ahmed Kamal

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad, 500 007, India

    M. Pradeep Kumar & M. Shyam Sunder

  3. Centre for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad, 500 007, India

    K. Veera Mohana Rao & B. Jagadeesh

  4. Inorganic and Physical Chemistry Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad, 500 007, India

    Vinukonda Swapna

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  1. C. Ganesh Kumar
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Correspondence to C. Ganesh Kumar.

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Ganesh Kumar, C., Pradeep Kumar, M., Gupta, S. et al. Isolation and Characterization of Cellulose from Sweet Sorghum Bagasse. Sugar Tech 17, 395–403 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-014-0339-9

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