Physico-chemical Characterization and Comparison of Microcrystalline Cellulose from Several Lignocellulosic Sources

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of cellulose sources on the physico-chemical properties of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) for various applications. The results showed that MCC prepared from non-wood resources including cotton stalk, bamboo, and sisal was comparable to MCC made from wood in α-cellulose content, pH, moisture content, crystallinity index (CrI), and moisture sorption capacity. However, the ash content, polymerization degree, thermal stability, and mechanical properties, including tablet hardness and tensile strength, of MCC were strongly dependent upon the cellulose sources. The crystalline size (002) had no effect on the mechanical properties of the prepared MCC. The order of the obtained mechanical properties was softwood > hardwood > cotton stalk > bamboo > sisal. Compared with the less obvious variation for bamboo and sisal, the tablet hardness for wood and cotton stalk MCC noticeably decreased in correlation with increased MCC particle sizes. In addition, compared to the polycaprolactone (PCL) neat film, the tensile strength and elastic modulus of PCL/MCC films were improved by 16.0% to 42.5% and 62.7% to 82.0%, respectively.