Materials Sciences and Applications, 2015, 6, 713-723 Published Online August 2015 in SciRes. http://www.scirp.org/journal/msa http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/msa.2015.68073 How to cite this paper: Motaung, T.E. and Mokhena, T.C. (2015) Effects of Mechanical Fibrillation on Cellulose Reinforced Poly(Ethylene Oxide). Materials Sciences and Applications, 6, 713-723. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/msa.2015.68073 Effects of Mechanical Fibrillation on Cellulose Reinforced Poly(Ethylene Oxide) Tshwafo E. Motaung * , Teboho C. Mokhena CSIR Materials Science and Manufacturing, Polymers and Composites Competence Area, Nonwovens and Composites Research Group, Port Elizabeth, South Africa Email: * temotaung@csir.co.za Received 15 May 2015; accepted 31 July 2015; published 4 August 2015 Copyright © 2015 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Abstract The objective of this work was to extract sugar bagasse cellulose nanofibres by using three differ- ent processes, namely: mechanical fibrillation, bleaching and mild acid hydrolysis. Cellulose nano- fibres with diameters in the nano range and estimated lengths of several micrometers were ob- tained from SB. Fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis confirmed the removal of hemicellulose and lignin components by alkali/bleaching and acid hydrolysis. XRD results showed an increase in crystalline which resulted from the removal of lignin and hemicellulose, especially after mercerization and mild acid hydrolysis. Moreover, the extracted cellulose nanofibres were used to reinforce poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). PEO was dissolved in water and mixing with the cel- lulose nanofibres suspension followed by casting. The nanocomposites were characterized by us- ing FTIR analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, X-Ray diffractometry and tensile tester. The ther- mal stability of the nanocomposites was enhanced depending on the treatment of the SB fibres. Keywords Biomaterials, Biopolymers & Renewable Polymers, Cellulose and Other Wood Products, Biocom- patibility 1. Introduction In the past years, cellulose nanofibres (CNF) garnered much interest as one of the reinforcements of various polymeric materials. This resulted from their unique and attractive properties such as biodegradability, biocom- patibility, renewability, abundance, high aspect ratio and light weight [1]. Cellulose nanofibers can be extracted * Corresponding author.