Effect of sodium hypochlorite concentration during pre-treatment on isolation of nanocrystalline cellulose from Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) mature pods

Mature pods of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit were utilized as raw material for nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) production. NCC’s isolation begins with L. fiber’s alkaline treatment sodium hydroxide, followed by bleaching at three different percentages (3%, 5%, and 7%) hypochlorite. Acid hydrolysis was then conducted to obtain NCC, which comprehensively characterized in terms morphology, chemical functional groups, whiteness index, crystallinity. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) composition results showed that alkali (NaOH) 7% hypochlorite, NaClO) effective the removal lignin hemicellulose. The variation hypochlorite concentration affected physical structural characteristics NCC produced, exhibited a rod-shaped structure diameters ranging from 17 49 nm. These observations provide insight into potential utilization preparing nanocellulose, may address problems underutilized mature pods.