Isolation of Cellulose Nanowhiskers from Kenaf Fiber - Natural Polymers, Biopolymers, Biomaterials, and Their Composites, Blends, and IPNs - page 196

Figure 7. TG and DTG curves of raw kenaffiber, alkali treated kenaffibre, bleached kenaffiber and
cellulose nanowhiskers.
There is an earlier weight loss started at around 230°C in raw fiber curve due to
low decomposition temperature of hemicelluloses (Morán et al., 2008). A dominant
peak at 328°C on the DTA curve accounts for the pyrolysis of cellulose. It is known
that the hemicelluloses decompose before lignin and cellulose. The low thermal sta-
bility of hemicelluloses is due to the presence of acetyl groups (Shebani et al., 2008).
On the other hand, by removing most amounts of hemicellulose and ligning in alkali