Preparation and Characterization of Carboxymethyl Microcrystalline Cellulose from Pineapple Leaf Fibre

Abstract Highly functional and robust biobased materials are still in research to produce valuable bio-composites. In the present research, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was obtained through an agricultural waste, pineapple leaf fiber (PL) and further functionalized using upscaled chemical approach to carboxymethyl microcrystalline cellulose (CMMMC). To derive CMMCC from PL fiber, monochloroacetic acid, sodium hydroxide, and ethanol were used as solvents in an etherification procedure. FTIR, TGA, SEM, EDX, XRD, and DSC served to characterize the raw material, high crystalline MCC, and modified carboxy methyl MCC. FTIR analysis determined the presence of a different absorbed peak at approximately 1620.2 cm⁻¹, and at 1423.8 cm⁻¹, carboxyl groups were assigned to CMMCC. On the other hand, the XRD findings verified that CMMCC's crystalline structure has decreased. Analysis by SEM revealed a damaged surface morphology for CMMCC. Following chemical treatments, the EDX analysis revealed that each fiber sample contained a highly pure cellulose elemental composition. Thus, results explain the utilization of agricultural waste, pineapple leaf fiber to high valuable products like highly crystalline MCC, in addition further modification of MCC could leads to formation of highly functional material that could be used for other applications too in future.