The Influence of Hydrolysis Time in Hydrothermal Process of Cellulose from Sengon Wood Sawdust

In this paper, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) is isolated from Sengon wood (Albazia chinensis) sawdust through an ultrasound-assisted (alkaline) delignification and hydrothermal process. The effect of temperature and time of hydrothermal process on the MCC properties is investigated. Sengon sawdust is delignified by ultrasound in 0.5 M sodium hydroxide solution (1/30 w/v) at 40 degrees C for 30 min. The solid part is bleached using sodium hypochlorite. The delignification is followed by the hydrothermal treatment at different time periods (160 degrees C, 80 bar). Well-defined fibrils of MCC have been proved by the scanning electron microscopy analysis. The diameter of MCC is in the range of 5-20 mu m and less than 100 mu m in length. In MCC, the crystallinity of cellulose increases from 56.43% to 79.1% in sengon sawdust.