Synthesis of Methyl cellulose by Chemical modification of Cellulose extracted from Sugarcane Bagasse.
Abstract
In this study, cellulose was extracted from sugarcane bagasse (SCB) through a convenient five-step treatment, and procedures. During the alkaline curing process of the extraction of cellulose, The optimum conditions were found to be 1M NaOH, 120°C, and 45 min with a cellulose yield of 73.71% cellulose, 17.22% hemicellulose, and 9.07% lignin. Though most of the lignin was eliminated during the alkaline, dilute acid pre-treatment and delignification process, the remaining lignin was removed by a solution treatment of 4% NaOH, and 20% H2O2 at 120°C for 45 min where the cellulose yield was found as 89.75%, hemicellulose was 6.15%, and lignin was 2.65%. FTIR spectra demonstrated that cellulose was successfully extracted due to the removal of noncellulose components. In the present paper, methylcellulose was produced from cellulose extracted of sugar cane bagasse, by Williamson ether synthesis using methylene chloride, with acetone solvent in heterogeneous conditions. The infrared spectra of the cellulose and that of the methylcellulose present significant differences at the regions from 3600 to 2700 cm-1 and from 1500 to 800 cm-1. The ratio between the absorption intensities of the O-H stretching band (~3400 cm-1) and the C-H stretching band (~2900 cm-1) in the spectra of the methylated samples is lower than that in the cellulose spectrum, evidencing the methylation of the samples.