Fibrous microcrystalline cellulose from Ficus natalensis barkcloth

In this study, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) at an overall yield of 30.9% was prepared from Ficus natalensis bark cloth via acid hydrolysis. MCC exhibited a high crystallinity index of 75.8% and an initial thermal degradation temperature of 314.6 °C. Morphological studies revealed fibrous rod-like particles of MCC with somewhat rough surfaces whose average length and diameter were approximately 90 ± 25 μm and 17.08 ± 3.3 μm, respectively. Thus, the thermally stable fibrous MCC prepared from this study expands the scope of applications for the barkcloth as fillers in biocomposites.