Isolation and characterization of nanocrystalline cellulose from cocoa pod husk (CPH) biomass wastes.

Abstract In this paper, cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were isolated from the cellulose extracted from cocoa pod husk waste, followed by characterization using XRD, FT-IR, TGA, SEM and TEM to determine its crystallinity, structural properties, thermal characteristics, morphology and dimensions respectively. The result revealed that the cocoa pod husk amorphous segments containing hemicelluloses and lignin were extensively removed with increasing chemical treatments leading to increased purity, crystallinity index and thermal stability of the extracted materials. The diameter, length and crystallinity index of the CNC isolated from the CPH are 10–60 nm, 41–155 nm and 67.60% respectively.