Isolation and characterization of nanocrystalline cellulose from flaxseed Hull: A future onco-drug delivery agent

Abstract

Cellulose is a polysaccharide composed of D-glucopyranose linked by 1,4 β-glycoside bond with three hydroxyl groups. These hydroxyl groups in cellulose have an important role in the compactness of crystalline structure and in determining the physical properties of cellulose. Cellulose in nanometers size range from 10 nm to 350 nm is known as nano cellulose, which has a variety of applications due to the unique properties such as low density, biodegradable, and good mechanical properties. In the present study, we present the isolation of the nano cellulose from flaxseed hull for the first time. The isolated nano cellulose was characterized by techniques such as UV–Vis, FT-IR, BET, XRD SEM, and TEM. The nano cellulose obtained was found to be crystalline in nature with a crystallinity index of 46% and the surface area of 5 cm2/g with excellent thermal stability. Keywords: Nanocrystals, Cellulose, Flaxseeds, XRD, FTIR, SEM