CELLULOSE NANOFIBERS FROM CASSAVA AGRO-INDUSTRIAL WASTE AS REINFORCEMENT IN PVA FILMS

Cellulose nanofibers (CNF) have been applied in composite systems due to the abundance of raw material, excellent mechanical and thermal properties. In this work, CNF was prepared from agroindustrial waste and used in specified amounts in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composites. The FTIR spectra of CNF, chemically purified cellulose (CPC) and Cassava Agro-industrial Waste (CAW) indicate the removal of hemicellulose and lignin. The increase of the crystallinity phase in CNF was observed, by XRD analysis and neither is observed the transition from cellulose I to II. Thermogravimetric analysis showed displacement that the initial degradation of the CNF over 43 °C degradation proceeds at single step. The chemical and dimensional homogeneity of CNF can be observed with the calculation of the crystalline phase content obtained by deconvoluted dTG curve and XRD spectra, obtaining 80% crystallinity by both techniques. SEM micrographs showed fibers with diameters of 22.30 ± 1.52 nm. An increase in the mechanical properties of PVA was observed with the addition of CNF. With 2.5% CNF in the PVA, the elastic module increased by approximately three times, with the addition of 10% CNF, a saturated system with poor mechanical properties was observed.