Isolation and characterization of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) from Macaranga hypoleuca

Macaranga hypoleuca is one of the potential native species for natural fibers consisting of long fibers. In M. hypoleuca pulp the main majority is cellulose, followed by hemicellulose and lignin. Based on these characters, it is possible to prepare cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) from M. hypoleuca pulp. In this work, CNFs were prepared by the combination of the chemical and mechanical treatments. Those were acid hydrolysis by sulfuric acid and ultrasonication machine forwarded. The aims studies observed the potential of M. hypoleuca pulp as a raw material of CNFs and characteristics of CNFs from M. hypoleuca pulp. The results showed of the CNFs had widths of 42 +/- 7.27 nm and crystallinity of 76.9%. The decomposition temperature of the CNFs was of 332 degrees C. This could be value added to M. hypoleuca trees, and the CNFs extracted from this M. hypoleuca pulp might be useful for composite applications.