Title
A facile isolation method of cellulose nanocrystals from microcrystalline cellulose
Authors
BYOUNG-MIN LEE DU-YEONG KIM JOON-PYO JEUN PHIL-HYUN KANG and SUNGKWON HONG

Received July 27, 2015
Published Volume 50 Issue 9-10 October-December
Keywords electron beam, microcrystalline cellulose, nanocellulose, cellulose nanocrystal, acid hydrolysis

Abstract
In this study, we investigated an effective isolation method of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) from commercial microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) using electron beam irradiation (EBI). The EBI of the MCC was performed at various doses ranging from 50 to 200 kGy, and then MCC was hydrolyzed with 65% sulfuric acid at 45 캜 in a pre-heated oven for 30, 60, 90, and 120 min. The hydrolysate of MCC was characterized using gel permeation chromatography (GPC), a particle size analyzer, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). CNCs of virgin MCC were obtained with a 44% yield, 319 nm average particle size, and 78.2% crystallinity index after 120 min of acid-hydrolysis. However, CNCs isolated from 50 kGy irradiated MCC were obtained with 51% yield, 330 nm average particle size, and 80.2% crystallinity after 30 min of acid-hydrolysis. In addition, TEM morphology analysis clearly showed the isolation of rod-like shaped CNCs.