ISBN-13: 978-1537584836

Proceedings of ICAER-2016

Isolation of cellulose from non-conventional

source and its chemical modification
Sindhu R#, Surendra Singh Bisht*, Manjula Sarode#
# Dept of Chemical Engineering, RVCE, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
*

Chemistry of Forest Products Division, IWST, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

E mail: rsindhu79@yahoo.com

Abstract- In present study cellulose was isolated from Prosopis juliflora, one of the obnoxious wild plants
followed by its chemical modification into Cellulose acetate. The conditions optimized for isolation of cellulose
were concentration of aqueous NaOH, concentration of sodium chlorite, process time and temperature with
distilled water as solvent medium .Further reaction temperature for acetylation reaction were optimized. Best
results obtained for isolation of cellulose were 50% sodium chlorite with 20% sodium hydroxide at 90C for
120 min. Optimized conditions for acetylation of cellulose was found to be at 100 C for 18hr examined.
Cellulose and cellulose acetate were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.

Keywords- Cellulose, Cellulose acetate, Prosopis juliflora, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

I.

INTRODUCTION:

Natural polymers have various advantages over synthetic polymers. Furthermore, utilizing biopolymers from
weed species will reduce its negative impacts on environment and also eradication cost. This study aims at
isolation cellulose from weed plant and its chemical modification. Plant biomass consists of cellulose,
hemicellulose, lignin, pectin and protein. Most of the plant biomass consists of about 33 % of cellulose as the
major component of the rigid cell walls. Cellulose is a linear and high molecular weight polymer as well as
natural, renewable and biodegradable material. However, due to its high crystallinity and strong inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bond, cellulose neither melts nor dissolves in the most common organic solvents, therefore,
reduces its applicability. In order to increase the cellulose applicability, an alternative pathway is to convert the
cellulose to its derivatives such as cellulose acetate through chemical reaction. Cellulose acetate is important for
its soluble property in organic solvents where several applications are utilized in frame coatings in manufacture
of eye glasses, membranes for waste water treatment

II. MATERIALS AND METHODS

A. Selection and processing of plant weed

Prosopis juliflora was selected based on its availability in local regions and abundance, through extensive
literature survey. Raw material collected was chopped and powdered.

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ISBN-13: 978-1537584836

Proceedings of ICAER-2016

B. Extraction
Extraction of resins, fatty matter, polar compounds was done by soxhlet extraction using hexane, methanol and
methanol.

C. Hydrogen Peroxide treatment (Method A)

Alkali treatment was carried out using sodium hydroxide followed by delignification step using different
concentration of hydrogen peroxide.

D. Sodium chlorite treatment (Method B)

Prehydrolysis was carried out using distilled water at 90 C for 45min followed delignification by addition of
different concentration of acidified sodium chlorite. Delignified samples were oven dried and treated with
sodium hydroxide by varying process time temperature.

E. Chemical modification and optimization

Cellulose isolated was derivatized chemically by acetylation reaction using acetic anhydride and pyridine.
Reaction temperature was varied from 30 C to 100 C and time was varied from 6hr to 18hr.

S/N

Treatment

Parameters

Conditions

Hydrogen peroxide

Concentration of hydrogen peroxide

5 mL-35 mL

Sodium chlorite

Concentration of sodium chlorite

10%- 60%

Sodium hydroxide

Time for sodium hydroxide treatment

60 min-120 min

Temperature for sodium hydroxide treatment

30 C -60 C

Time for acetylation reaction

6h-18h

Temperature for acetylation reaction

30C-90C

4
5

Acetylation

Table 1: Optimization parameters

F. Characterization
FTIR analysis was performed for characterization of isolated cellulose and cellulose acetate synthesized.

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Graph 1 shows FTIR spectra of isolated cellulose which shows the presence of pectin and lignin indicating
incomplete delignification from hydrogen peroxide treatment. Graph 3 shows the FTIR spectra of cellulose
isolated by sodium chlorite treatments at different time indicates the absence of lignin and pectin with the
absence of few peaks from 1870 cm-1 to 1550 cm-1. Table 1 shows the parameters optimized during hydrogen
peroxide and sodium chlorite treatment.

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ISBN-13: 978-1537584836

Proceedings of ICAER-2016

899.24

1060.66

1160.76

1370.11
1326.41

1434.26

1643.45
1640.82

3444.73
3350.48

2.5
2.0

Cellulose
standard

Absorbance Units
1.5

Absorbance Units
1.5

2.0

2.5

35ml
H2O2
25ml
H2O2
15ml
H2O2
5ml

2898.28
2895.98

Fig 2: Cellulose isolated

3.0

Fig 1: Prosopis juliflora chopped

3600

3200

2800

2400

2000

1800
1600
Wavenumber cm-1

1400

1200

1000

800

600

400

0.0

0.0

0.5

0.5

1.0

1.0

H2O2

3600

CELLULOSE-3
CELLULOSE-3
CELLULOSE-3
CELLULOSE-3

Graph 1: FTIR spectra of isolated cellulose from

hydrogen peroxide treatment

3200

2800

2400

2000

1800
1600
Wavenumber cm-1

1400

1200

1000

800

600

400

Graph 2: Comparison of FTIR spectra of cellulose

standard and isolated cellulose

CELLULOSE-3

2.5

3.0

CELLULOSE-3

1.5

30 min

2.0

60min
Absorbance Units
1.0

0.0

0.0

0.5

0.5

1.0

Absorbance Units
1.5

120min

3600

3200

2800

2400

2000

1800
1600
Wavenumber cm-1

1400

1200

1000

800

600

Graph 3: FTIR spectra of cellulose isolated from sodium

chlorite treatment at 90C

CELLULOSE-3

3600

400

2800

2400

2000

1800
1600
Wavenumber cm-1

1400

1200

1000

800

600

400

Graph 4: Comparison of FTIR spectra of standard cellulose

acetate and isolated cellulose acetate

CELLULOSE ACETATE STD

CELLULOSE-3
CELLULOSE-3

3200

CELLULOSE ACETATE

Colour of isolated cellulose slightly improved with increasing temperature of sodium hydroxide treatment from
30-90C. Texture was improved with variation of sodium hydroxide reaction time from 60min to 120 min
[Graph 3]. Further increase in time and temperature led to degradation of reaction mixture and hence optimized
process condition were fixed at 90 C and 120 min for sodium hydroxide treatment. Comparison of Fourier
transform infrared spectroscopy of isolated cellulose from Prosopis juliflora with that of standard cellulose
obtained from Sigma-Aldrich indicated strong resemblance between the isolated cellulose with that of cellulose
standard [Graph 2]. FTIR spectra showed slight modification in the structure of cellulose to cellulose acetate at
30 C for 6h, 12h and 18h and 60 C after 6h. Prominent peaks at 1753 cm1 shows the progress of acetylation at

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ISBN-13: 978-1537584836

Proceedings of ICAER-2016

60C for 6h, 12h and 18h where as significant change in the reaction of cellulose to cellulose acetate is seen at
100 C for 18h [Graph 4].
IV. CONCLUSION
This study explores the potential application of cellulose through the utilization of weed plant, thus reducing an
obnoxious plant weed posing threat to environment.

V. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to faculty of Department of Chemical engineering, RVCE and
Director, Institute of wood science and technology for their support in the completion of the work successfully.
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