Green chemo-mechanical extraction of structurally functional mesoporous nanocellulose platform from sugarcane bagasse: a versatile matrix for multifunctional material design

Sugarcane bagasse is an abundant agro-industrial residue with considerable potential for the development of sustainable, bio-based functional materials. In the present study, bagasse-derived nanocellulose is examined not only as a reinforcing phase but also as a fibrillar host matrix. A comparatively mild chemo-mechanical sequence comprising dewaxing, oxidative delignification, alkaline purification, chlorine-free bleaching, citric acid/hydrogen peroxide pretreatment, and mechanical fibrillation was used to obtain the nanocellulose. X-ray diffraction confirmed retention of the cellulose I polymorph and an apparent crystallinity index of approximately 67%. Nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis showed Type-IV-like behavior and a dominant BJH pore-size maximum near 5.8 nm, consistent with mesopore-range interfibrillar voids in the dried fibrillar network. FESEM revealed an interconnected nanofibrillar morphology with apparent fibrillar features in the nanoscale range. Barium sulfate (BaSO4) was subsequently introduced as a dense model filler to test the ability of the nanocellulose/chitosan matrix to form a continuous self-supporting body. FESEM and EDX confirmed formation of the composite and local incorporation of Ba- and S-containing domains, with no macroscopic phase separation observed in the analyzed specimens. The results establish a process-structure-platform relationship linking comparatively mild bagasse fractionation, nanofibrillation, mesopore-range network formation, and preliminary secondary-phase hosting.HighlightsSugarcane-bagasse nanocellulose was obtained through a comparatively mild chemo-mechanical sequence while retaining cellulose-I-associated organization.Nitrogen sorption/BJH analysis identified a dominant mesopore-range maximum near 5.8 nm, attributed to interfibrillar voids in the dried network.FESEM revealed an interconnected fibrillar architecture with apparent fibrillar features in the approximately 50–125 nm range.A BaSO4-loaded nanocellulose/chitosan composite formed a self-supporting body, with local Ba and S incorporation confirmed by EDX.