An investigation on the characteristics of cellulose nanocrystals from Pennisetum sinese

The aim of this study was to explore the utilization of Pennisetum sinese as cellulose source for the preparation of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC). The cellulose was extracted from P. sinese by chemical treatment and bleaching, and obtained cellulose nanocrystals by acid hydrolysis. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that CNC were rod-like with the diameter of 20–30 nm and the length of 200–300 nm. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) showed that chemical treatment removed most of the lignin and hemicellulose from P. sinese, and CNC had similar structure to that of native cellulose. The crystallinity indexes calculated from X-ray diffraction (XRD) for P. sinese and CNC were 40.6% and 77.3%, respectively. The zeta-potential analysis showed that CNC had higher stability than P. sinese had. The thermal stability was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and the result showed that P. sinese had higher thermal stability than that of prepared CNC. •Pennisetum sinese Roxb is good raw material for preparing cellulose nanocrystals (CNC).•Crystallinity of prepared CNC is higher than that of P. sinese Roxb.•Thermal stability of prepared CNC is lower than that of P. sinese Roxb.