PROPERTIES OF NANOCELLULOSE OBTAINED FROM SUGAR PALM (ARENGA PINNATA) FIBER BY ACID HYDROLYSIS IN COMBINATION WITH HIGH-PRESSURE HOMOGENIZATION

Nanocellulose was isolated from sugar palm (Arenga pinnata) fiber, using a combined treatment of acid hydrolysis and high-pressure homogenization. Sugar palm fibers (SPF) were initially pretreated with an acid solution to dissolve cellulose. Then, the aqueous solution of cellulose fibers (0.2% w/v) was passed through a high-pressure homogenizer at 20 MPa during 15 cycles to provide sugar palm (SP) nanocellulose. The morphology and structure of SP nanocellulose was characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and CP/MAS 13 C-NMR spectroscopy. The results showed that the acid hydrolysis of SP fiber, combined with high-pressure homogenization, produced nanocellulose with increased crystallinity, but it did not change the chemical structure of cellulose.