Isolation of Microcrystalline from Coconut Husks

Coconut husks are an agro waste which is available abundantly in South East Asia. This work evaluates the use of coconut husks as a source of cellulose to obtain microcrystalline. Cellulose fibers from coconut husks were undergoing alkaline and bleaching treatment processes and continued with hydrolysis process which was performed at 45 degrees C for 60 minutes using 64 wt% of sulphuric acid (H2SO4). The microcrystalline of coconut husks were characterized using FTIR, FESEM and XRD. Microcrystalline with a diameters ranging from 3 - 8 nm and its crystallinity was 68.3% has been successfully prepared and rod like shaped of microcrystalline can be observed through FESEM image.