Corn husk, one of the most abundantly generated by-products of maize processing, is routinely discarded through open dumping or burning in many communities especially in Africa, contributing to environmental pollution and the loss of potentially valuable biomass. In this study cellulose was extracted corn husk using two green methods. The extraction involved de-waxing, pretreatment and bleaching. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was employed to confirm the chemical identity and content of the extracted cellulose. The result showed that both methods completely eliminated the hemicellulose and lignin content of corn husk. However, the cellulose content intensities of the first method were higher. These results confirm that the sequential extraction procedure successfully isolated cellulose from corn husk and underscore the potential of this agricultural waste as a sustainable, low-cost feedstock for cellulose-based materials.
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