Date palm fiber (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a natural biopolymer rich in lignocellulosic components. Its high cellulose content lends them to the extraction of tiny particles like microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC). These cellulose-derived small size particles can be used as an alternative biomaterial in wide fields of application due to their renewability and sustainability. In the present work, NCC (A) and NCC (B) were isolated from date palm MCC at 60 min and 90 min hydrolysis times, respectively. The isolated NCC product was subjected to characterization to study their properties differences. With the hydrolysis treatment, the yields of produced NCC could be attained at between 22% and 25%. The infrared-ray functional analysis also revealed the isolated NCC possessed a highly exposed cellulose compartment with minimized lignoresidues of lignin and hemicellulose. From morphology evaluation, the nanoparticles’ size was decreased gradually from NCC (A) (7.51 nm width, 139.91 nm length) to NCC (B) (4.34 nm width, 111.51 nm length) as a result of fragmentation into cellulose fibrils. The crystallinity index was found increasing from NCC (A) to NCC (B). With 90 min hydrolysis time, NCC (B) showed the highest crystallinity index of 71% due to its great cellulose rigidity. For thermal analysis, NCC (B) also exhibited stable heat resistance, in associating with its highly crystalline cellulose structure. In conclusion, the NCC isolated from date palm MCC would be a promising biomaterial for various applications such as biomedical and food packaging applications.

The presence of geometric discontinuity in a material reduces considerably its resistance to mechanical stresses, therefore reducing the service life of materials. The analysis of structural behaviour in the presence of geometric discontinuities is important to ensure the proper use, especially if it is regarding a material of weak mechanical properties such as a polymer. The objective of the present work is to analyse the effect of the notch presence of variable geometric shapes on the tensile strength of epoxy-type polymer specimens. A series of tensile tests were carried out on standardised specimens, taking into account the presence or absence of a notch. Each series of tests contains five specimens. Two notch shapes were considered: circular (hole) and elliptical. The experimental results in terms of stress–strain clearly show that the presence of notches reduces considerably the resistance of the material, where the maximum stress for the undamaged specimen was 41.22 MPa and the lowest stress for the elliptical-notched specimen was 11.21 MPa. A numerical analysis by the extended finite element method (XFEM) was undertaken on the same geometric models; in addition, the results in stress–strain form were validated with the experimental results. A remarkable improvement was obtained (generally an error within 0.06%) for strain, maximum stress, Young’s modulus and elongation values. An exponential decrease was noted in the stress, strain, and Young’s modulus in the presence of a notch in the material.