Cellulose Nanocrystals (CNCs) from Corn Stalk: Activation Energy Analysis

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are sustainable nanomaterials with diverse applications.
• Corn stalk is an abundant lignocellulosic biomass source for CNC extraction.
• Understanding CNC properties is crucial for advanced material development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To isolate and characterize cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) from corn stalk.
• To investigate the impact of sulfuric acid hydrolysis on CNC properties.
• To evaluate the thermal stability and activation energy of the derived CNCs.

Main Methods:

• Sulfuric acid hydrolysis for CNC isolation from corn stalk.
• Characterization using electron microscopy for morphology (length, diameter).
• Crystallinity analysis, thermal stability testing (TGA), and activation energy calculation (Friedman, F-W-O, Coats-Redfern methods).

Main Results:

• CNCs with average dimensions of 120.2 nm length and 6.4 nm diameter were obtained.
• Crystallinity increased from 33.20% in raw fiber to 69.20% in CNCs.
• CNCs showed a degradation temperature of 239.5 °C and higher activation energy (avg. 302.8–312.6 kJ·mol⁻¹) than purified cellulose.

Conclusions:

• Sulfuric acid hydrolysis effectively produced CNCs from corn stalk while preserving chemical structure.
• Enhanced crystallinity and thermal stability, particularly higher activation energy, were observed in CNCs.
• The findings provide valuable data for utilizing CNCs in polymer/CNC composites and understanding their thermal behavior.