Isolation and structural characterization of cellulose from sericostoma pauciflorum

Cellulose is one of the most prevalent and cost-free natural polymers on Earth and plays a crucial structural role in plant cell walls.Isolating and chemically characterizing cellulose can benefit various industries by enabling them to utilize its potential fully.This study reports cellulose extraction from Sericostoma Pauciflorum through a process involving bleaching followed by alkali and acidic treatments.The crude cellulose obtained was further fractionated into alpha (α) and beta (β) cellulose fractions.Structural analyses were performed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD).The morphology and thermal stability of the crude, α, and β cellulose were examined using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), respectively.The cellulose yield from Sericostoma Pauciflorum was found to be 82%, with the α and β cellulose fractions comprising 83.6% and 8.2%, respectively.This indicates that α-cellulose predominates in Sericostoma Pauciflorum.Morphological studies, FTIR, and SEM analyses confirmed the successful extraction of cellulose and showed that the alkali and acidic treatments effectively removed most of the Crude cellulose and lignin.XRD analysis further confirmed that all samples exhibited a cellulose I polymorph structure, with no evidence of cellulose II.The crystallinity index and crystallite size of β-cellulose (79.10% and 51.67 nm, respectively) were higher than those of α-cellulose (63.05% and 18.54 nm).Additionally, the crystallinity of fractionated β-cellulose (79.10%) was greater than that of crude cellulose (71.35%), suggesting that β-cellulose exists in a more ordered form.Thermogravimetric analysis demonstrated that β-cellulose had significantly higher thermal stability than α-cellulose, with thermal decomposition rates in the temperature range of 200-600°C of 70.39% for αcellulose and 2.02% for β-cellulose.Overall, the results were consistent with existing literature, providing valuable insights that could inform future research and applications in various fields.