Production of Micro Crystalline Cellulose from Tapioca Solid Waste: Effect of Acid Concentration on its Physico-chemical Properties

Abstract

This study was aimed to examine the production of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) from tapioca solid waste (TSW), using HCl hydrolysis with various concentrations, i.e., 2 N, 2.5 N, 3 N, and 3.5 N. MCC was produced by delignifying the TSW with NaOH 20%, and bleaching with NaOCl 3.5% to produce α-cellulose, and subsequently hydrolyzing α-cellulose with three different HCl concentrations to produce MCC. The physicochemical properties of MCC were then analyzed, including Scanning Electron Micrograph (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and FTIR spectra. The results showed that hydrolysis with 2.0 N HCl resulted in a higher yield of 61.28%, α-cellulose content of 56.33%, moisture 6.25%, pH of 6.54; ash 0.23%, and water solubility 0.34%. SEM analysis showed the morphology and size of the MCC produced were like those of a commercial MCC (Avicel PH101), while the XRD analysis showed the higher concentration of HCl gave rise to an increased crystalline index. FT-IR spectrum analysis indicated that TSW, MCC produced, and commercial MCC had similar functional groups.

Keywords

• microcrystalline cellulose
• physicochemical properties
• scanning electron micrograph
• tapioca solid waste