Preparation of cellulose nanoparticles from agave waste and its morphological and structural characterization

Agave is a natural waste from many different industries in Mexico, so alternative uses for these fibrous waste materials are desirable. Cellulose nanoparticles were obtained from dried agave leaves by acid hydrolysis. The characterization of the nanoparticles was made using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fast Fourier transformation infrared (FTIR) solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The nanoparticles had an average size of 97 ± 30 nm within a range of 31-198 nm, with a quasi-spherical and polyhedral morphology associated to a shape factor of 0.78 ± 0.06. The FTIR results revealed that the cellulose nanoparticles showed the characteristic cellulose peaks. Meanwhile, ssNMR showed the main peaks of the cellulose there was a difference in the peaks presence and absence when comparing to the cellulose pattern, which was associated to a lower crystallinity of the agave nanoparticles. In addition, the nanoparticles had a triclinic crystalline structure and a crystallinity index of 39% confirmed by HR-TEM and XRD. This study is important for a facile obtention of green nanomaterials from agroindustrial waste.