Unraveling the inherent potential of five different commercially important bamboo as sources of microcrystalline cellulose

The Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) is a partly depolymerized form of polymeric cellulose, composed of glucose monomeric units. It holds significant commercial importance with indispensable applications in various industrial processes, including the pharmaceutical industry. The abundant availability of bamboo in Assam, attributed to its rapid growth, widespread distribution, and diverse species, presents significant potential as an alternative source for microcrystalline cellulose. The current study characterizes the MCC from five commercially important bamboo species of Assam, India; and compares it with commercial MCC (C-MCC), Avicel PH101. The bamboo species selected for the study were Bambusa balcooa (Bholuka bamboo) , Bambusa tulda (Jati bamboo) , Melocanna baccifera (Muli bamboo), Dendrocalamus hamiltonii (Kako bamboo) and Bambusa pallida (Bijuli bamboo). The MCC extracted from the bamboos were accordingly named as B-MCC, J-MCC, M-MCC, K-MCC, Bi-MCC. Isolation of MCC involved sequential alkali treatment, bleaching with acidified sodium chlorite, and final hydrolysis using 2.5 N H₂SO₄ to obtain purified cellulose. The morphological, physicochemical, as well as the thermal characterization of MCC which is derived from these bamboo species suggests that it can effectively replace commercially available MCC from other sources. The SEM analysis demonstrates that commercial MCC exhibits shorter lengths, and forms larger agglomerated particles which results in a lower aspect ratio (4.32 ± 3.24 µm). In contrast, the MCC derived from bamboo displays a higher aspect ratio, with the maximum value recorded in Muli bamboo (21.18 ± 11.56 µm). The MCC extracted from Bambusa pallida (B-MCC) shows the highest thermal stability having a decomposition temperature of 384.68 °C, and minimal char residue (0.001 %), which underscores its purity and suitability for high-temperature applications. Since, the bamboo-based MCC offers low cost, and climate change mitigation benefits it also shows promising application in various bio-composite formulations.