LAUSR

Currently, agriculture sector produces enormous quantity of residues, creating severe environmental problems. These agricultural residues are rich in lignocellulosic fibers, making them sustainable sources to produce high added-value materials. This investigation aims to transform the eggplant plant residue (EPR) into purified cellulose microfibers (CMF) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC). CMF with a yield of 54 %, diameter of 13.6 μm and crystallinity of 71 % were successfully obtained from raw EPR using alkali and bleaching treatments. By subjecting CMF to phosphoric and sulfuric acid hydrolysis, phosphorylated (P-CNC) and sulfated (S-CNC) were produced. P-CNC and S-CNC exhibited an aspect ratio of 89.4 and 74.2, zeta potential value of - 39.4 and - 28.7 mV, surface charge density of 116.7 and 218.2 mmol/kg cellulose and a crystallinity of 73 % and 80 %, respectively. Herein, the obtained cellulosic structures with excellent properties could be used in various applications, such as bio-derived fillers for polymer composites development.