Asian Dyer  August - September 2019  24 NATURAL DYES ecent advances in micro-technology have led to the development of functionalized micro-nanopar ticles that hold promises in various industrial sectors, such as medicines, electronics, bio-materials and energy production. However, their manufacture involves non- renewable resources and use of toxic reagents that are harmful to the environment 1 . Presently, people are replacing the widespread use of petroleum-derived non-biodegradable materials with green and sustainable materials as a challenge that is gaining increasing attention by the scientific community 1,2 . Cellulose is the most abundant biopolymer on ear th and the major component in the cell walls of wood and terre- strial plants 3,4 . It is a linear homo-polymer of glucose (C 6 H 12 O 5 ) n with repeating units consisting of D-glucose 5 . They have attracted the attention of scientists and technologists worldwide because of their tremendous advantages and now it is poss- ible to isolate micro-cr ystalline cellulose and na- no-fibrils from various ligno-cellulosic wastes 6,7 . Micro-crystalline cellulose (MCC) is widely used, especially in the food, cosmetic and medical product industries, where it is expected to act as water retainer, suspension stabilizer, or as a reinforcing agent for various products, such as medical tablets 8 . Not only these, the potential uses of MCC within different industries are anti- caking agents, emulsifiers, binders, disintegrating agents, dispersants, organization modifiers, non- nutrient leavening agents, emulsion stabilizers, thermal stabilizers, carriers for fast drying, finely dispersing agents and tableting agents 9 . Mechanical treatment and acid hydrolysis are the main and common approaches for isolating cellulose par ticles 10,11 . Extraction and characterization of micro-crystalline cellulose from Artemisia afra leaves Agmas Azmeraw, Girendra Pal Singh, Saptarshi Maiti, Kedar Kulkarni and Ravindra V Adivarekar Institute of Chemical Technology, N P Marg, Matunga (E), Mumbai 400 019, Maharashtra, India rv.adivarekar@ictmumbai.edu.in R Artemisia afra grows in thick, bushy, slightly untidy clumps, usually with tall stems upto 2 m high, but sometimes as low as 0.6 m. The stems are thick and woody at the base, becoming thinner and softer towards the top. The soft leaves are finely divided, almost fern- like. The upper surface of the leaves is dark green, whereas the undersides and the stems are covered with small white hairs, which give the shrub the characteristic overall grey colour. Very typical of Artemisia afra is the strong, sticky sweet smell that it exudes when touched or cut 12 . The Artemisia afra extracted residue is a renewable raw material for MCC production which gives cost advantage along with environmental benefits over the wood pulp used for MCC This article deals with the successful dyeing of the Artemisia afra MCC with HE commercial reactive dyes Artemisia afra