Research Article Isolation and Characterization of Cellulose Nanofibers from Gigantochloa scortechinii as a Reinforcement Material Chaturbhuj K. Saurabh, 1 Asniza Mustapha, 1 M. Mohd. Masri, 1 A. F. Owolabi, 2 M. I. Syakir, 1 Rudi Dungani, 3 M. T. Paridah, 4 M. Jawaid, 4 and H. P. S. Abdul Khalil 1 1 School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia 2 Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi, Lagos 25016, Nigeria 3 School of Life Sciences and Technology, Gandung Labtex XI, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung 40132, Indonesia 4 Institute of Tropical Forestry & Forest Products, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Malaysia Correspondence should be addressed to H. P. S. Abdul Khalil; akhalilhps@gmail.com Received 28 April 2016; Revised 3 June 2016; Accepted 16 June 2016 Academic Editor: Zeeshan Khatri Copyright © 2016 Chaturbhuj K. Saurabh et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Cellulose nanofbers (CNF) were isolated from Gigantochloa scortechinii bamboo fbers using sulphuric acid hydrolysis. Tis method was compared with pulping and bleaching process for bamboo fber. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray difraction, and thermogravimetric analysis were used to determine the properties of CNF. Structural analysis by FT-IR showed that lignin and hemicelluloses were efectively removed from pulp, bleached fbers, and CNF. It was found that CNF exhibited uniform and smooth morphological structures, with fber diameter ranges from 5 to 10 nm. Te percentage of crystallinity was signifcantly increased from raw fbers to cellulose nanofbers, microfbrillated, along with signifcant improvement in thermal stability. Further, obtained CNF were used as reinforcement material in epoxy based nanocomposites where tensile strength, fexural strength, and modulus of nanocomposites improved with the addition of CNF loading concentration ranges from 0 to 0.7%. 1. Introduction Over the years, numerous studies have been performed to fnd the ideal cellulosic reinforcing material from natural plant fbers. Bamboo is possibly an ideal source for cellulose based nanofbers. It is a fast growing plant and widely considered as an excellent source of cellulose fbers that pos- sess relatively small microfbrillar angles and high cellulose content [1]. Malaysia is endowed with more than 50 bamboo species. Among these, almost 14 species are commercially exploited [2]. Gigantochloa genus is one of the most utilized bamboos in Malaysia due to its uniformity in size, thick culms wall, and ease of cultivation, which makes this bamboo genus a good choice for industrial usage [3]. Studies on cellulosic plant fbers for various applications are widely done since they are sustainable, green, and envi- ronmental friendly. Easy processing, low cost, low energy consumption, light weight, excellent specifc strength, low environmental hazard, and renewability and recyclability of the reinforced green composite have generated great interest among researchers over conventional synthetic reinforced fbers [4, 5]. Te utilization of bamboo fbers in composites has attracted interest because of its biodegradability and clean emissions [6, 7]. Te incorporation of bamboo fber improves certain properties of the polymer composite matrix (i.e., fracture toughness and impact behavior); however, fexural strength of composites was not signifcantly afected [8– 10]. It is believed that the poor compatibility between the cellulose and polymer matrix causes the low fexural strength in cellulose reinforced composite materials. Te poor matrix accessibility increases the interfacial tension between cel- lulose fbers and polymeric matrices, thus increasing the porosity of composites [11, 12]. Tus there is need to develop a novel methodology for the production of cellulose fbers which have better compatibility with the polymeric matrices. Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Nanomaterials Volume 2016, Article ID 4024527, 8 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/4024527