Abstract: The ultrastructure characterization and analysis of nano-cellulose crystal (NCC) preparing from sulfuric acid hydrolysis were investigated using field emission gun enviro nment scanning electron microscopes (FEGE-SEM), field emission transmission electron microscopy (FETEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results showed that NCC dispersed in water can form a very stable suspension. It can be observed that microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) has irregular shape with diameter about 15 μm using FEGE-SEM. Regular short rod-like NCC can be obtained by sulfuric acid hydrolysis. The diameter of NCC was in the range of 2-50 nm. The results of AFM were in agreement with FETEM. Images of FETEM clearly reveals that the diameter of NCC was about 2-24 nm, with the length of 50-450 nm. The size of NCC observed from AFM was a little bigger than that of FETEM, it can be contributed to the soft texture of cellulose. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern shows that the NCC has the celluloseⅠcrystal form. The crystallinity of NCC increased from 72.25% to 77.29%.

Key words: nano-cellulose crystal, ultrastructure, analysis