Vol. 11, Special Issue 6 (2022)

Author(s):
B Manisha Reddy, P Subramanian, S Sriramajayam, P Vijayakumary and K Raja

Abstract:
Cellulosic fiber finds an important role in modern science due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability and non-toxicity. Extracting cellulose from ligno-cellulosic biomass is one of the most important study fields nowadays. In this work, an attempt has been made to extract the cellulose from the banana sheath through steam explosion and chemical pretreatment methods. Banana sheath is an annually renewable agriculturalby-product with high cellulose content. The main objective of this research is to study the physicochemical characterization of the raw banana sheath fibers and extracted cellulose. The X-ray diffraction studies revealed that the cellulose extracted through steam explosion is having more crystallinity index (65.7%) than chemically extracted cellulose (58.4%). Structural analysis by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy indicated that the lignin and hemicellulose were removed extensively through both methods. The morphology of the banana sheath fibers and extracted cellulose was investigated using scanning electron microscopy. In addition SEM showed that the microfibril surface diameter of the pretreated cellulose has been decreased.