Cellulose Microfibrils/Nanofibrils (CMNF) Produced from Banana (Musa acuminata) Pseudo-Stem Wastes: Isolation and Characterization

Abstract

Banana pseudostems waste is abundantly available as agro-waste and has been used in different applications. In this work, the isolation of CMNF from the pseudostems of banana plant were explored. The dried stems from the species Musa acuminata were first cleaned by soxhlet extraction, alkali treatment and bleaching. Segal method will be employed to analyze data from XRD to determine crystallinity of the CMNF. Morphology of the CMNF will be determined using FESEM. Characterizations of treated and untreated samples were compared. The comparison between those treated and untreated samples giving the information about crystallite size, crystallinity and surface morphology for each treatment.