Enzymatic Preparation of Nanocrystalline Cellulose from Bamboo Fibers

This paper reports an attempt to prepare nanocrystalline cellulose from bamboo fibers through an enzymatic hydrolysis process. A type of commercial cellulase, viz. enzyme Cclast (mainly containing endoglucanase) was used in the preparation process. The morphology of the prepared bamboo cellulose nanocrystals was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and the sugar analyses of hydrolysis residues were analyzed by ion chromatography (IC). The degree of polymerization (DP) was tested by automatic viscosimeter. All nanocrystalline cellulose from bamboo fibers presented a rod-like shape, an average diameter (D) of 5.3 nm and length (L) of 221 nm, with an aspect ratio (L/D) of around 42. It was shown that the use of enzymatic hydrolysis treatment to bleach bamboo pulp helps the preparation of well individualized rod-like nanocrystalline cellulose.