Extraction and characterization of cellulose single fibers from native african napier grass

•For the first time, CSFs was extracted from native African NGFs.•Extracted CSFs had higher α-cellulose content than the pristine NGFs.•The extracted CSFs exhibit enhanced crystallinity and thermal stability.•The extracted CSFs may be suitable for various industrial applications. With increasing awareness of protecting the environment, the demand for renewable and environmental materials is increasing. In this work, the cellulose single fibers (CSFs) were extracted from the African native Napier grass fibers (NGFs) by chemical process. NGFs and CSFs were characterized for their chemical composition, structure, morphology, crystallinity and thermal properties using, chemical analysis, FTIR, 13C CP/MAS NMR, SEM, XRD and TGA techniques. The resulted CSFs had higher α-cellulose content, crystallinity and thermal stability than the pristine NGFs. SEM images showed cleaner and rough surfaces for the CSFs when compared to those of NGFs. About 69% of the extracted CSFs showed a diameter range between 4 and 10 μm. FTIR and 13C CP/MAS NMR spectra confirmed the removal of lignin and hemicellulose components after chemical treatments.