This work presented a new concept to isolate nanometric cellulose
fibrils from banana peels and described a comparative study
that evaluated the difference between the chemical and enzymatic
treatment procedures. TEM confirmed the presence of nanofibers
in the treated samples. The treatments affected the dimensions and
the surface charge of the resulting nanoparticles. The milder
method used enzymes and furnished longer nanofibers with higher
aspect ratio; nanofibers obtained by this method culminated in a
more stable suspension, with higher zeta potential than the
nanofibers obtained by chemical treatment. On the other hand, the
chemically treated banana fibers had 300% larger crystallinity as
compared with the 200% higher crystallinity of the enzymatically
treated samples. Hence, the chemical method removed amorphous
components more effectively and enhanced the crystalline content
in the sample. FTIR spectra of the cellulose nanofibers confirmed
this finding. Finally, both treatments successfully isolated cellulose
nanofibers from the banana peel, encouraging the use of this
agroindustrial residue as a renewable source of nanofibers. A future
study will investigate the potential reinforcement that nanofibers
produced by both treatments promote in composites.