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A study of the mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of microcrystalline cellulose particles prepared from cotton slivers using different acid concentrations

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Abstract

Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) particles are mostly prepared by acid hydrolysis of various agro sources. Acid hydrolysis is usually carried out with high concentration (64 wt%) of sulfuric acid. Here, an attempt has been made to optimize lower acid concentrations which can effectively produce MCC particles. In this work, different concentrations of sulfuric acid (20, 30, 35, 40, 47 and 64 wt%) have been used to prepare MCC particles, which have been characterized by XRD, particle size analysis, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, nanoindentation and thermogravimetric analysis. MCC prepared with 35 and 47% sulfuric acid (MCC 35 and MCC 47) had finest particle size and fibrils were produced in the range of 15–25 nm. MCC 20 showed wide particle size distribution, indicating low breakdown of the cellulose chains. The energy absorption behavior and mechanical properties of the MCC pellets were determined by nanoindentation test for the first time. MCC 35 pellets exhibited lowest modulus and hardness.

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Acknowledgments

Dipa Ray is thankful to AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education), Government of India, for granting her a project. Authors are grateful to Dr. P. C. Basu (Director, Petrology Division) and Ms. Kaberi Banerjee of Geological Survey of India, Kolkata, for their kind support in doing the particle size analysis. Dr. Sabyasachi Som and Mr. U. Kundu are gratefully acknowledged for their support in doing SEM analysis. Authors are also thankful to Mr. Shailendranath Dey of Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB), Kolkata, India, for his help in doing the TEM analysis. Mr. Arijit Sinha (Research Scholar of BESU, Shibpur, Howrah) is also thankfully acknowledged for doing the Nanoindentation test. Authors Mohanty and Misra are thankful to the 2008 University of Guelph/OMAFRA Bioproducts research project for partial support of this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, Howrah, 711103, India

    Kunal Das & N. R. Bandyopadhyay

  2. Department of Polymer Science & Technology, University College of Science and Technology, University of Calcutta, 92 A.P. C Road, Kolkata, 700009, India

    Dipa Ray & Tony Ghosh

  3. Department of Plant Agriculture & School of Engineering, Crop Science Building, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada

    Amar K. Mohanty

  4. School of Engineering and the Department of Plant Agriculture, Thornbrough Building, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada

    Manjusri Misra

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  1. Kunal Das
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  2. Dipa Ray
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  3. N. R. Bandyopadhyay
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  4. Tony Ghosh
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  5. Amar K. Mohanty
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  6. Manjusri Misra
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Correspondence to Dipa Ray.

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Das, K., Ray, D., Bandyopadhyay, N.R. et al. A study of the mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of microcrystalline cellulose particles prepared from cotton slivers using different acid concentrations. Cellulose 16, 783–793 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-009-9280-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-009-9280-6

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