Extraction of palm tree cellulose and its functionalization via graft copolymerization

Published Date
International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
September 2014, Vol.70:275–283, doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2014.07.009

Author 

• Abdulmajeed A. Al-Hoqbani
• E.S. Abdel-Halim ^,
• Salem S. Al-Deyab

• Petrochemical Research Chair, Chemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, PO Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia

Received 26 May 2014. Revised 18 June 2014. Accepted 4 July 2014. Available online 11 July 2014. 

Abstract

The work in this paper was planned with the aim of extracting the cellulosic component of palm tree waste and functionalizing this cellulose through graft copolymerization with acrylic acid. The cellulose extraction included hot alkali treatment with aqueous sodium hydroxide to remove the non-cellulosic binding materials. The alkali treatment was followed by an oxidative bleaching using peracid/hydrogen peroxide mixture with the aim of removing the rest of non-cellulosic materials to improve the fiber hydrophilicity and accessibility towards further grafting reaction. Optimum conditions for cellulose extraction are boiling in 5% (W/V) NaOH in a material to liquor ratio of 1:20 for 1 h then bleaching with 60 ml/l bleaching mixture at initial pH value of 6.5 for 30 min. The pH of the bleaching medium is turned to the alkaline range 11 and bleaching continues for extra 30 min. Graft copolymerization reaction was initiated by potassium bromate/thiourea dioxide redox system. Optimum conditions for grafting are 30 mmol of potassium bromate, 30 mmol of thiourea dioxide and 150 g of acrylic acid (each per 100 g of cellulose). The polymerization reaction was carried out for 120 min at 50 °C using a material to liquor ratio of 1:20.

Keywords

Cellulose

Extraction

Grafting

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