ABSTRACT
This article reports the isolation and characterization of microcrystalline cellulose from date seeds of the date palm tree. The raw ground date seeds (RG-DS) are composed of cellulose matrix wrapped by lignin and hemicellulose as amorphous components. Cellulose was isolated from RG-DS through the following sequence: dewaxing, delignification/(bleaching) and acid hydrolysis. FTIR and Raman analysis for the bleached date seeds (B-DS) revealed the successful removal of the amorphous components from the polymer matrix. The X-ray diffractogram of the obtained (B-DS) exhibited the characteristic peaks of native cellulose (type I), with a crystallinity index (CrIâ¯=â¯62%). An additional acid hydrolysis step was used to convert native cellulose into microcrystalline cellulose (MCC-DS) with higher crystallinity (CrIâ¯=â¯70%). SEM analysis showed that the obtained microcrystals exhibit agglomerated and irregular elongated or semi-spherical shaped morphology. TEM analysis confirmed the semicrystalline nature of the MCC-DS. Thermal analysis showed enhanced thermal stability of MCC-DS. The current study shows the feasibility of using date seeds as a low-price source for obtaining MCC which is envisaged for applications in pharmaceutical and food industries as well as for preparing bionanocomposites with enhanced thermal properties.