Effect of hydrolysis time on the morphological, physical, chemical, and thermal behavior of sugar palm nanocrystalline cellulose (Arenga pinnata (Wurmb.) Merr)

Sugar palm nanocrystalline celluloses (SPNCCs) were isolated from sugar palm fiber (SPF). In this study, acid hydrolysis (60 wt. %) at different reaction times (30, 45, and 60 min) was carried out to investigate the optimum yield of NCC. The physical properties, degree of polymerization, chemical composition, structural analysis, crystallinity, surface area and charge, zeta potential, thermal analysis, and morphological characterization were also conducted to determine the outcome (efficiency) of the process. The results showed that a needle-like shape was observed under transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies. TEM analysis showed optimum aspect ratios of 13.46, 14.44, and 13.13 for isolated SPNCC-I, SPNCC-II, and SPNCC-III, respectively. From thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), the degradation temperature of NCC decreased slightly from 335.15℃ to 278.50℃ as the reaction time increased. A shorter hydrolysis time tended to produce SPNCC with higher thermal stability, as proven in thermal analysis by TGA. The optimal isolation time was found to be around 45 min at 1200 rpm during hydrolysis at 45℃ with 60% sulfuric acid. Therefore, the extracted SPNCC from SPF has huge potential to be utilized in the bionanocomposite field for the production of biopackaging, biomedical products, etc.