Sodium chlorite naclo2

Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Fiber (OPEFB) supplied by Szetech Engineering Sdn. Bhd. (Kampung Padang Jawa, Shah Alam, Malaysia) was used as the source of cellulose. The preparation of nanocellulose was done by the Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia based on previous publications [25 (link),26 (link)]. In brief, the OPEFB fibres were first subjected to soxhlet extraction using a 2:1 (v/v) ethanol/toluene solution (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA). for 6 h. It was then alkali treated with 4% (w/v) of sodium hydroxide (NaOH; Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA).) solution. The white cellulose was obtained through a bleaching process that removes lignin and hemicellulose by sodium chlorite (NaClO₂; Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) and glacial acetic acid (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA). The isolation of nanocellulose was carried out by acid hydrolysis with 60% (v/v) of aqueous sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄; Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) for 40 min at 45 °C. The resulting suspension was centrifuged for 10 min at 10 °C, dialysed against distilled water until a constant pH was reached, and ultrasonicated to disentangle the nanocrystal. Finally, the final product was freeze-dried to obtain a white powder and stored at 4 °C until further use.

Balsa wood (Ochroma pyramidale) was purchased from Balsanara Co. (Chungju, Chungcheong-do, Republic of Korea). In addition, 6% sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) solution, methanol, tert-butanol, ethanol, n-hexane, chloroform, sodium hydroxide (NaOH), and hydrochloric acid (HCl) were purchased from Duksan Pure Chemicals Co. Ltd., Ansan, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea. Zinc nitrate (Zn(NO₃)₂·6H₂O₆), TEMPO, Sudan III, rhodamine B (RhB), phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and sodium chlorite (NaClO₂) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich, and 2-methyl imidazole (2-Melm) was purchased from TCI Co., Chou-ku, Tokyo, Japan).

Balsa wood (Ochroma pyramidale) was purchased from Balsanara Co. (Chungju, Chungcheong-do, Republic of Korea). In addition, 6% sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) solution, methanol, tert-butanol, ethanol, n-hexane, chloroform, sodium hydroxide (NaOH), and hydrochloric acid (HCl) were purchased from Duksan Pure Chemicals Co. Ltd., Ansan, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea. Zinc nitrate (Zn(NO₃)₂·6H₂O₆), TEMPO, Sudan III, rhodamine B (RhB), phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and sodium chlorite (NaClO₂) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich, and 2-methyl imidazole (2-Melm) was purchased from TCI Co., Chou-ku, Tokyo, Japan).

Oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) was supplied by Seri Ulu Langat Palm Oil Mill, (Dengkil, Selangor, Malaysia) and used as a starting material for cellulose nanofibers production. Low density polyethylene (LDPE, MFI 0.33 g/10 min, ρ = 0.92 g·mL⁻¹), was supplied by Titan Petchem (M) Sdn. Bhd (Johor, Malaysia) and used as a matrix. Maleic anhydride-grafted-polyethylene (PEgMA, ρ = 0.92 g·mL⁻¹) as a compatibilizer was purchased from SIGMA-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA). Other chemicals, potassium hydroxide (KOH) and sodium chlorite (NaClO₂) were also purchased from SIGMA-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA) and used as received.