Preparation and Characterization of Porous Microcrystalline Cellulose from Corncob

Corncob, a cellulose-rich byproduct, has been regarded as an agricultural waste during the corn production. How to utilize cellulose from corncob at value-added utilization has attracted more and more environmental and industrial interest. In order to evaluate the characterization of natural corncob cellulose, in this study, the corncob cellulose was obtained by treating with the conventional treatment method with dilute acid/sodium chlorite, which adopted in papermaking industry. The morphology, degree of polymerization (DP), crystallinity, size distribution and pore structure of as-prepared corncob cellulose were analyzed. The results showed that the particle size of the cellulose isolated directly from corncob had reached micron level, with a medium diameter of 83.34 μm. And the corncob microcrystalline cellulose (CC-MCC) had a higher DP (581), a lower crystallinity (52.82%), wider particle size distribution and higher economic viability in comparison with commercial microcrystalline cellulose (C-MCC). Interestingly, there were some mesopores into the CC-MCC wall, which facilitated the follow-up application. This study proves that the porous microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) can be directly obtained from corncob, which is not only beneficial to reduce the cost of traditional MCC, but also conducive to the value-added utilization of corncob.