Sodium tetraborate decahydrate borax

Bleached bagasse fibers
extracted from bagasse were supplied by Qena Pulp and Paper Industry
(Qena, Egypt). The bleached bagasse pulp was composed of 70.6% α-cellulose,
29.7% pentosans, and 0.82% ash while exhibiting a degree of polymerization
(DP) of 1135.³⁷ Sodium periodate (NaIO₄), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), sodium chlorite (NaClO₂), graphene nanoplatelets (GNP), acrylamide (AM), ammonium persulfate
(APS), and N,N-methylene bis(acrylamide)
(MBA) of laboratory grade were purchased from Fisher Scientific Co.
(Hampton, NH, USA). Sodium tetraborate decahydrate (borax) was purchased
from Sigma-Aldrich Inc. (St. Louis, MO, USA). All reagents used in
this work were of analytical quality, and deionized water was used
to prepare the aqueous solutions.

Low molecular weight chitosan in powder form was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Italy). Its deacetylation degree (∼77%) was obtained by FTIR analyses with the method proposed by Sabnis and Block (1997 (link)). Graphite flakes (Qingdao Dahe Graphite Co. Ltd., China) were used for the preparation of graphene oxide nanosheets according to the Hummers method (Hummers and Offeman, 1958 (link)). CNCs were extracted from microcrystalline cellulose (MCC dimensions of 10–15 μm, Aldrich, Steinheim, Germany) and used as nanofillers. In detail, the CNC-based solution (0.5 mg ml⁻¹) was prepared according to the procedure reported in the literature (Wang et al., 2020 (link)). Sodium tetraborate decahydrate (borax) was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Italy).