Background: Fresh tea leaves contain cellulose and fibre so that the cellulose from tea leaves have the potential to be synthesized into carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). CMC can be crosslinked with Aluminum sulfate into a hydrogel. Objective: The study was conducted to the form of a hydrogel from tea leaf cellulose. Material and Methods: Cellulose hydrogels were made from tea leaf synthesized into CMC. The hydrogel could be made by binding to crossing CMC to various concentrations of aluminium sulfate, which is 0.3%; 0.4% and 0.5% at 25oC. The preparation of the hydrogel was started by dissolving CMC with an aquadest while stirring for 1 hour and bound with aluminium sulfate until the mass thickened. The formed hydrogel was characterized by FT-IR and SEM. Results: FT-IR and SEM data showed that hydrogels could be formed from tea leaf cellulose. This could be seen from the significant changes between the FT-IR spectrum of cellulose and hydrogels in the functional group region. SEM data also shows the formation of pores on the surface of the hydrogel from tea leaf cellulose. Conclusion: Hydrogels can be formed from cellulose tea leaf

Keywords: Tea Plants, Cellulose, CMC, Hydrogels