Natural cellulose, a sustainable bioresource, is highly abundant in nature. Cellulosic materials, particularly those that explore and employ such materials for industrial use, have recently attracted significant global attention in the field of material science because of the unique properties of cellulose. The hydroxyl groups enable the formation of intra- and inter-molecular hydrogen bonding and the arrangement of cellulose chains in a highly ordered crystalline zone, with the remaining disordered structure referred to as an amorphous region. The crystalline areas of cellulose are well-known as cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). In the present study, we extracted CNCs from pure cellulose isolated from waste jute fibers by sulfuric acid hydrolysis, followed by characterization. Pure cellulose was isolated from jute fibers by treating with sodium hydroxide (20% w/w) and anthraquinone (0.5%) solution at 170 °C for 2 h, followed by bleaching with chlorine dioxide and hydrogen peroxide solution. CNCs were isolated from pure cellulose by treating with different concentrations (58% to 62%) of sulfuric acid at different time intervals (20 min to 45 min). The FTIR study of the CNCs reveals no peak at 1738 cm⁻¹, which confirms the absence of hemicellulose in the samples. The CNCs obtained after 45 min of acid hydrolysis are rod-shaped, having an average length of 800 ± 100 nm and width of 55 ± 10 nm, with a high crystallinity index (90%). Zeta potential significantly increased due to the attachment of SO₄²⁻ ions on the surface of CNC from −1.0 mV to about −30 mV, with the increment of the reaction time from 20 min to 45 min, which proved the higher stability of CNC suspension. Crystallinity increased from 80% to 90% when the reaction time was increased from 20 to 45 min, respectively, while a crystallite size from 2.705 to 4.56 nm was obtained with an increment of the acid concentration. Acid hydrolysis enhanced crystallinity but attenuated the temperature corresponding to major decomposition (Tmax) at 260 °C and the beginning of degradation (Ti) at 200 °C due to the attachment of SO₄²⁻ ions on the surface, which decreased the thermal stability of CNC. The second degradation at 360 °C indicated the stable crystal structure of CNC. The endothermic peak at 255 °C in the DTA study provided evidence of sulfated nanocrystal decomposition and the recrystallization of cellulose I to cellulose II, the most stable structure among the other four celluloses. The proposed easy-to-reproduce method can successfully and efficiently produce CNCs from waste jute fibers in a straightforward way.

The most affordable type of tablet is the immediately compressible tablet, which uses microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), a popular pharmaceutical excipient, as a filler or binder. To make it compatible with different active drugs and excipients, we tried to change some physical properties of the MCC. In the current study, we used a chelating agent to pretreat the waste cotton before pulping, bleaching, and finally, hydrochloric acid degradation with a concentration of 2N at 100 °C temperature for 20 min to prepare MCC. The prepared MCC was treated with different concentrations of sodium hydroxide at room temperature or at −20 °C followed by precipitation with hydrochloric acid or ethanol with complete washing with distilled water till neutralization. Evaluation of the degree of polymerization (DP) and FT-IR spectrum confirm the identity of the microcrystalline cellulose. The DP was found to be 216. The bulk density of the unmodified MCC was 0.21 while that of modified MCC varied from 0.253 to 0.594. The modified MCC powder showed good flow properties compared to the unmodified MCC as evaluated by the Hausner index, Carr’s index and the angle of repose. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the MCC revealed that the rod shape has been changed to an oval shape due to treatment with sodium hydroxide at −20 °C. The X-ray crystallographic (XRD) analysis indicated that the unmodified MCC and standard MCC showed the crystallinity index (CrI) value of 86.82% and 87.63%, respectively, while the value ranges from 80.18% to 60.7% among the modified MCC powder. The differences in properties of the MCC might be due to the variation of rearrangement of the cellulose chain among the MCC particles due to treatment with different concentrations of a base at different temperatures and precipitation environments. This has enabled us to prepare MCC with different properties which might be compatible with different drugs.

The study attempted to illustrate the antioxidant, thrombolytic and cytotoxic properties of two different medicinal plants, Jatropha pandurifolia and Syzygium reticulatum. In vitro antioxidative activity was tested through qualitative and quantitative DPPH scavenging assay which revealed the radical scavenging activity. Methanolic stem bark extract of Jatropha pandurifolia (MSJP) and ethyl acetate leaf extract of Syzygium reticulatum (EALSR) showed moderate clot rupture activity, the value of which were 61.30 ± 2.35% (**P<0.01) and 63.81 ± 1.92% (**P<0.01) accordingly, whereas streptokinase showed 73.6 ± 0.76% clot lysis capability. IC50 value was 6.82 ± 0.99 μg/mL for butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT) wherein MSJP and EALSR showed 8.1± 1.44 (***P<0.001); and 10.34±2.12 (**P<0.01) μg/mL accordingly. In Brine shrimp cytotoxicity, MSJP, EALSR and vincristine sulphate exhibited mild activity with LC50, the value of which were 5.73±2.85 (*P<0.05), 5.12±1.57 (*P<0.05) and 0.52 ± 0.18 μg/mL respectively. The results proved the presence of many bioactive compounds showing thrombolytic, antioxidative and cytotoxic activities. Dhaka Univ. J. Pharm. Sci. 22(1): 97-103, 2023 (June)