Production of spherical cellulose nano-particles from the waste cellulose fibers

Cellulose is a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer that is widely used in the textile industry. Cellulose fibres are wasted during processing and final usages. These fibers are valuable resources for the production of cellulose powder which is one of the useful physical forms of cellulose. Cellulose nano-powder maintains the original properties of cellulose and also has large marketing potential in biomaterials, food additives, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. In this research, an environmental friendly process without solvents or chemical reactants, enzymatic hydrolysis in combination with a short time and low power sonication, has been used to produce cellulose nano-particles from cotton and lyocell waste fibers. The structure and geometrical characteristics of the samples were investigated by SEM, FTIR, and Laser Light Scattering. The results showed that the fiber diameter decreases during the hydrolysis process. The particle size distribution analysis indicated that the median size of the produced nano-particles from cotton and lyocell fibers were 70 and 50 nm, respectively. The SEM images showed that both cotton and lyocell nano-particles have spherical shapes. FTIR studies denoted that the enzymatic treatment and ultrasonic have no significant changes on the chemical structure of cotton and lyocell fibers.

کلیدواژه ها:

Recycling ، Waste Cellulose Fibers ، Nano-particles ، Enzymatic Hydrolysis