X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) Analysis of Cellulose from Banana (<i>Musa acuminata) </i>Pseudo-Stem Waste

Abstract

Alkali treatment and bleaching have been applied on banana fibers obtained from harvested pseudo-stem of the banana plant Musa acuminata collected in Banting, Selangor, Malaysia. The structure and morphology of the fibers have been found to be affected by the used of alkaline treatment and bleaching. The crystallite size and percentage crystallinity of the untreated (raw banana fibers) and treated (microfibrils cellulose) fibers were investigated using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). XRD studies shows that the treated cellulose prepared by such chemical treatment (alkali and bleaching treatment) were more crystalline than the untreated banana fibers.