Characterization of corn husk and its alkali treated form as an innovative absorbent material for industrial application

Abstract

 The utilization of agricultural waste and by products as natural fibers has attracted researchers’ interest because of its economic benefits and tackling environmental issue. Corn husk is an agricultural waste which is easily generated from harvest of maize stover. It is rich in cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. In this study, the feasibility of using corn husk and its treated form with alkali solution as a desiccant material has been investigated. The raw corn husk and treated corn husk have been characterized using   various techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction, (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and electron dispersed X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) in order to gain insights into their properties. The chemical treatment of corn husk shows improvement on the surface characteristics which aids interaction between its molecules. According to the results of FTIR, it shows alkali treated corn husk confirmed the absorbance peak that shows strong Si-O-Si stretching at 1020 cm^-1 and 1080cm^-1 in raw corn husk. Also, strong C=O stretching at 1032 cm-¹ in raw corn husk and 1030 cm^-1 in alkali treated corn husk. The XRD analysis also shows peak around 2θ= 15.80, 22.03, 26.69, 40.44 shows the structure of cellulose. From the result of XRF and EDX. there is an increase in the silica base component of the alkali treated corn husk over the raw corn husk.  The chemical composition analysis of treated corn husk revealed that hemicellulose, lignin and ash were reduced by 63% ,71% and 30%. This research will aid in the resourceful valorization of corn husk   and contribute toward its usage as ecofriendly desiccant and absorbent.