Open Access

ARTICLE

Preparation of Dicarboxyl Cellulose Nanocrystals from Agricultural Wastes by Sequential Periodate-Chlorite Oxidation

Xiaozheng Sun^*, Qiang He, Yu Yang

College of Engineering, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, China

* Corresponding Author: Xiaozheng Sun. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Nanocellulose and Nanocellulose-Derived Functional Materials)

Journal of Renewable Materials 2020, 8(4), 447-460. https://doi.org/10.32604/jrm.2020.09671

Received 14 January 2020; Accepted 26 February 2020; Issue published 24 April 2020

Abstract

Agricultural waste straw is the renewable resource with the highest annual yield in the world. In value-added applications of agricultural waste, dicarboxyl cellulose nanocrystals (DCCs) are prepared from rice, wheat, and corn straw by sequential periodate-chlorite oxidation. In this study, DCCs from rice, wheat, and corn straw were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, X-ray diffractometer (XRD), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The carboxyl content of the DCCs was also investigated. XRD results show that the crystallinity index decreased after sequential periodate-chlorite oxidation; however, the cellulose I structure was maintained. TEM results show that rod-shaped DCCs with an average length and width of 287.0 nm and 9.9 nm, respectively, were successfully prepared by sequential periodate-chlorite oxidation. The carboxyl content of the DCCs was around 3.9 mmol/g, and not affected by the type of straw. Experiments to study the removal of copper ions in aqueous medium were performed with the prepared DCCs. The adsorption capacities of copper ions were 131, 162, and 144 mg/g for DCCs prepared from rice, wheat, and corn straws, respectively. The results show that DCCs prepared from rice, wheat, and corn straws by sequential periodatechlorite oxidation have potential for the removal of copper ions from aqueous medium.

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