# Benchmarking Chemical Hydrolysis and Bacterial Biosynthesis Pathways for Nanocellulose: A Sustainability-Focused Comparative Framework

## TL;DR

This paper compares two methods for making nanocellulose from pineapple peel: one using acid and another using bacteria, finding the bacterial method more sustainable.

## Contribution

A sustainability-focused comparative framework for evaluating chemical hydrolysis and bacterial biosynthesis of nanocellulose.

## Key findings

- BNC scored higher in sustainability due to lower water use and fewer purification steps.
- BNC produced a homogeneous nanofiber network, while HNC formed heterogeneous fragments.
- BNC and HNC showed different yields depending on the measurement basis.

## Abstract

This study benchmarks two nanocellulose (NC) production architectures: sulfuric-acid hydrolysis of pineapple peel biomass to obtain hydrolyzed nanocellulose (HNC) and microbial biosynthesis of bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) by Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar trifolii in defined media. HNC and BNC were characterized by SEM, FTIR, AFM, and ζ-potential, and the routes were compared using a sustainability-focused multicriteria framework. The Visual Integration of Multicriteria Evaluation (VIME) (radar chart + weighted decision matrix) yielded a higher overall score for BNC (66) than HNC (51), driven primarily by lower downstream washing/neutralization water demand (~0.3 L vs. ~14 L per batch), fewer purification stages (~2 vs. ~5), and lower waste hazard. In contrast, HNC performed better in calendar time (~7 vs. ~18 days). AFM revealed route-dependent morphologies: BNC formed a homogeneous nanofiber network (37 ± 9 nm), while HNC formed heterogeneous lamellar fragments (70 ± 12 nm). Route-specific yields were 3.15% (w/w, dry biomass basis) for HNC and 1.065 g/L (culture-volume basis) for BNC. Although a full ISO-compliant Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA) are beyond the scope of this laboratory-scale study, the defined system boundaries and reported process inventories provide an LCA/TEA-ready template for future mass- and cost-balanced comparisons.