Pretreatment of Oryza sativa (Rice) and Musa cavendishii (Banana) Waste Biomass Using Ionic Liquids of Choline Amino Acid for Nanoscale Cellulose Production

The species Oryza sativa (rice) and Musa cavendishii (banana) are sources of cellulose-rich waste biomass in the Amazon region, Tocantins State. This research investigates the nanoscale production of cellulose through the interactions between three choline amino acid ionic liquids Ch[AA]IL and the respective fibers by pretreatment. To this end, the synthesis of three ILs was carried out: choline arginate Ch[Arg], choline glycinate Ch[Gly] and choline lysinate Ch[Lys], characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The samples resulting from the pretreatment were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). It was possible to infer from the SEM micrographs that Ch[Arg] caused greater fiber breakage than the other ILs. The TEM analyses identified fibers up to 16 nm in diameter. Positive effects were observed in the diffractograms, although no crystallinity was obtained in the pretreated samples. Thermogravimetry curves showed that the fibers treated with Ch[Arg] showed higher thermal stability.

Keywords:
nanocellulose; ionic liquids; biomass; pretreatment