Synthesis and Morphological Studies of Nanocellulose
Fibers from Lignocellulosic Biomass in Ionic Liquid

Lignocellulosic agricultural biomasses and wood are the two most important natural sources of cellulose
available on the planet. When chemically treated, cellulose is the world’s most common and widely
used biopolymer, with properties such as low price, good toughness, good biocompatibility and good
thermal stability. In this study, nanocellulose was extracted from ragi stalk, mango wood and groundnut
husk. The cellulose was alkali-treated with NaOH and bleached with sodium chlorite to remove lignin
and hemicellulose. Ionic liquid (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([Bmim]Cl) solvent was used
to treat the obtained cellulose. FTIR spectra highlight the functional groups and substantial conversion
of cellulose to nanocellulose. The crystalline or semi-crystalline nature of synthesized nanocellulose
was illustrated by XRD. The TEM images record the size of synthesized nanocellulose between 11.12
and 31.16 nm. The reduction in size is mainly due to ultrasonication and centrifugation. The thermal
stability of the obtained nanocellulose was evidenced using TGA/DTA. The thermal studies insight
that the synthesized nanocellulose samples possess superior degradation temperature up to 473.8 ºC.