Extraction and characterization of micro cellulose from Salvinia molesta

Abstract

Salvinia molesta is an aquatic weed that is widely spread all over the world with an incredibly high growth rate. Because of its capacity to quickly cover the entire water body, it has historically provided a significant issue and currently poses a significant challenge. This plant has been managed and eliminated from water bodies using a number of biological, physical, and chemical strategies. Any of these techniques, however, revealed to be a long-term solution because it would be costly and time- consuming to implement. With its many remarkable features and wide range of possible uses, micro cellulose is a young and promising material that has attracted growing scientific interest over the decade. The objective of this research was to extract cellulose from Salvinia molesta and make micro cellulose fibrils (MCFs) and micro cellulose crystals (MCCs) through the chemical treatments and physical processes. Cellulose isolation necessitated several pretreatment steps, including soxhlet extraction, alkaline treatment, and bleaching. Through the utilization of ultra-sonication, hydrolysis, and freeze-drying techniques, pure microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and microcrystalline cellulose fibers (MCF) were obtained post-extraction. The raw Salvinia molesta, de-waxed, alkali-treated, bleached, and MCCs and MCFs samples underwent characterization using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and scanning electron microscopy