Al-Awa Zinab Fuad Ahmed, Sangor Farah Idris Mohamed Said, Babili Sara Baseem, Saud Asif, Saleem Haleema, Zaidi Syed Javaid
UNESCO Chair in Desalination and Water Treatment, Centre of Advanced Materials, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar.
ACS Omega. 2023 May 19;8(21):18930-18939. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c01222. eCollection 2023 May 30.
The date palm tree ( L.) is the oldest cultivated tree and is very commonly seen in the Arab countries. In recent times, researchers are working on the conversion of the plant-based biowaste into value-added products. Cellulose is identified as one of the best options to be synthesized from plant-based materials due to its immense application possibilities. It is a natural hydrophilic polymer consisting of linear chains of 1,4-β-d-anhydroglucose units, and the most used method for cellulose extraction is acidic hydrolysis. However, in this study, a very sustainable, ecofriendly, and simple process of isolating cellulose from date palm leaves is discussed. In this study, the best mechanical approach (ball milling, grinding, or its combination) for changing the leaves into powder form, as well as the sustainable and simple chemical extraction of cellulose from those date palm leaves, is analyzed. SEM analyses confirmed that the mechanical treatment process affected the appearance of the cellulose formed. Raman spectrum confirmed the difference in stretching vibrations among the cellulose obtained. From the results obtained, it was noted that cellulose derived utilizing the grinding technique and subsequent chemical treatment was considered as the finest cellulose prepared with respect to its properties and structure, and the greatest yield obtained for Cellulose 2 was 42%. As a future scope, this cellulose developed can be used to produce advanced materials like nanocellulose.
枣椰树（L.）是最古老的栽培树种，在阿拉伯国家非常常见。近年来，研究人员致力于将植物基生物废料转化为高附加值产品。纤维素因其巨大的应用潜力，被认为是由植物基材料合成的最佳选择之一。它是一种天然的亲水性聚合物，由1,4-β-D-脱水葡萄糖单元的线性链组成，最常用的纤维素提取方法是酸水解。然而，在本研究中，讨论了一种从枣椰树叶中分离纤维素的非常可持续、环保且简单的方法。在本研究中，分析了将树叶转化为粉末形式的最佳机械方法（球磨、研磨或其组合），以及从那些枣椰树叶中可持续且简单地化学提取纤维素的方法。扫描电子显微镜分析证实，机械处理过程影响了所形成纤维素的外观。拉曼光谱证实了所获得的纤维素之间拉伸振动的差异。从所得结果可知，利用研磨技术及后续化学处理得到的纤维素，就其性质和结构而言被认为是制备得最好的纤维素，纤维素2的最高产率为42%。作为未来的发展方向，这种开发的纤维素可用于生产纳米纤维素等先进材料。
