ECO-FRIENDLY EXTRACTION AND … · ECO-FRIENDLY EXTRACTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CELLULOSE FROM LIGNOCELLULOSOIC FIBER ... wood and textile fibers …

VOL. 11, NO. 16, AUGUST 2016 ISSN 1819-6608

ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences

©2006-2016 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

www.arpnjournals.com

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ECO-FRIENDLY EXTRACTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CELLULOSE FROM LIGNOCELLULOSOIC FIBER

Sarifah Fauziah Syed Draman1, Rusli Daik2 and Norzila Mohd1

1Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Bukit Besi, Dungun, Terengganu, Malaysia 2School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi,

Selangor, Malaysia E-Mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Cellulose has many advantages such as abundant in nature, inexhaustible, low cost, easy processing, renewable, biodegradable and biocompatible. The most interesting effect is its positive environmental impact. It is also a renewable resource whose further production requires little energy. Thus, more eco-friendly method needs to be used to extract the cellulose. Pineapple leaf and kapok fiber are chosen in this study, since both reported to have a high composition of cellulose. In this study, extraction and characterization were carried out to obtain pure cellulose fiber from pineapple leaf (Annanus cosomus) and kapok (Ceiba Pentandra (L.)) using eco-friendly method namely as dissolution in deep eutectic solvent (DES), which compose from choline chloride and urea. Chemical analysis and physico-chemical characteristics of raw and produced materials were investigated with the help of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The FTIR results show that the treatment by dissolution in DES method removed most of the hemicellulose and lignin from the raw pineapple leaf and kapok fiber. Chemical analysis also showed that 83.5% and 53.4% of cellulose contains in raw fiber of pineapple and kapok respectively. Meanwhile, the extracted fiber of pineapple and kapok containing 97.7% and 92.1% of cellulose respectively. TGA demonstrated that cellulose extracted from dissolution in DES method has higher thermal stability compared to raw fiber. Obtaining pure cellulose from natural fiber, including pineapple and kapok fiber is essential due to its potential in various applications. Keywords: crystallinity index, deep eutectic solvent, kapok, pineapple leaf, thermogravimetric analysis. INTRODUCTION

Natural fiber is the most abundantly available renewable resources in the world. This material can be obtained from the naturally available biomass or waste from forest products, agriculture and plantation. It is also known as lignocellulose fiber because its main components are cellulose (α-cellulose) and/or lignin, and may contain other components such as hemicellulose [1]. Lignocellulose material is one of the most invaluable resources. It requires only inexpensive chemical modification or utilization with suitable chemical reagent under certain conditions to produce products with high profits return [2]. Obtaining pure cellulose from lignocellulosioc fiber is essential due to its potential in various applications such as the matrix in polymer nanocomposite preparation [3]. Cellulose also has served as a construction material, mainly in the form of intact wood and textile fibers or in the form of paper and board. Furthermore, cellulose was reported to be a versatile starting material for chemical conversions, aiming at the production of artificial, cellulose-based threads and films. A variety of stable cellulose derivatives also were reported to be used in many areas of industry and domestic life [4].

Pineapple leaf and kapok were reported to have a high composition of cellulose. Thus, both lignocellulosoic fibers were focused on this study. Kapok or locally known as kekabu is a natural plant fiber which is silky, yellowish and cotton-like substance [5]. Kapok fiber is obtained from the seed pods of the kapok tree, Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn. from the Bombacaceae family which is originated from tropical India and found widespread in Southeast

Asia [6]. Traditionally, kapok fibers are utilized as stuffing material for beds and pillows. The kapok fiber is mainly composed of cellulose (58.9-64.0 %), lignin (13.021.5%), ash (0.5-3.5%) and a small amount of waxy coating that covers the fiber surface (3.0 %) [7-9]. Pineapple leaf at present is a waste product of pineapple cultivation. They are extracted from the leaves of the plant Annanus cosomus belonging to the Bromeliaceae family by retting [10]. The pineapple leaf was reported to have a high percentage of cellulose content (81.27%), low percentage of hemicellulose (12.31%) and lignin (3.46%) content [11].

Alkali treatment and bleaching with sodium chlorite are widely used by researchers for cellulose extraction from various ligocellulosoic fibers. Commonly, two main steps involved in the extraction of cellulose. NaOH was used for alkaline treatment, meanwhile sodium chlorite and acetic acid were used as bleaching agents [12]. By using this method, high yield of cellulose is extracted. Hemicellulose and lignin also are removed from the fibers. However, the use of acidified sodium chlorite is not environmental friendly. Chlorite (ClO2

-) may produce chlorine radicals, Cl• which react and fragment the lignocellulosic material into highly toxic organochlorine [13]. Therefore, more eco-friendly method need to be recommended.

Ionic liquid is a salt in liquid form can be used as optional solvent for replacing non-environmental friendly organic solvent. Ionic liquid is considered as ‘green solvent’ because its vapor pressure is negligible and non-flammable. Some ionic liquids such as allyl-





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methylimidazolium formate [AMI][Fm] and 1-butyl-3-ethylimizadazolium chloride [BMI][Cl] can dissolve cellulose [14]. Eutectic mixture of ethyltrimethylammonium (choline) chloride and urea was also reported suitable as solvent for cellulose [15]. This eutectic mixture gives a liquid with a freezing point of 12 oC, which is deeply lower than those of the choline chloride (melting point: 320 oC) and urea (melting point:133 oC). To differentiate this liquid from other ionic liquids, the term deep eutectic solvent (DES) has been adopted [16].

The aim of the present work is to extract cellulose from pineapple leaf and kapok fiber using dissolution in DES method, which is more eco-friendly method. Yet, very few studies were reported of eco-friendly method to extract cellulose from both lignocellulosoic fibers.

Physico-chemical characteristics of raw and produced materials were investigated with the help of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). METHODOLOGY Materials

Kapok fiber and pineapple leaf used in this study were obtained from Dungun, Terengganu, Malaysia. Pineapple leaf was washed with water and cut into smaller pieces. After that, the smaller pieces of pineapple leaf were dried beneath sunlight for two days. The dried fiber was grinded and sieved into powder. The dried fiber was kept in tight container prior to use. Kapok fiber was separated from the seeds and fruit cover by bare hand. Visible dusts and dirt were removed from the raw fiber. For dewaxing process, kapok fiber (8.0 g) was added to CHCl3 (800 mL). The mixture was refluxed for 4 h at 65 oC. Then, the mixture was filtered, washed with methanol and dried. The dewaxed kapok fiber was kept in airtight container prior to use.

Chloroform (CHCl3) and urea were purchased from R & M Chemicals, meanwhile sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium chlorite (NaClO2) are acquired from Friendamann Schmidt Chemicals and Sigma-Aldrich, respectively. Choline chloride and standard cellulose were bought from Acros Organics. Other chemicals were purchased from systerm. All chemicals were used as

received.

Dissolution in DES method Choline chloride (96.8 g) and urea (60.1 g) were

heated until homogenous colorless liquid formed. Then, the dried fiber (3.0 g) was added to the prepared DES, followed by the addition of NaOH (3.72 g). The mixture was stirred for 20 hours at 90 oC. The clear liquor obtained containing cellulose-rich extract was poured into adequate distilled water to precipitate cellulose sufficiently. The isolated crude cellulose was added to 2.0 % H2O2-, 0.2 % cyanamide solution (180 mL) and stirred at 50 oC under pH 10 for 4 hours. The bleached cellulose obtained was filtered and washed with water and ethanol. Finally, it was dried in a vacuum oven at the 40oC until a constant weight obtained.

Characterization

Chemical composition of raw and extracted cellulose was based on Technical Association of Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI). Lignin content was evaluated following TAPPI T13 wd-74 method, meanwhile holocellulose content is in accordance with TAPPI T9 wd-75. Infrared spectra of samples were recorded using Bruker, FTIR model Tensor 27 with OPUS 6.0 software. Samples were tested using Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR). The scans were carried out from 400 to 4000 cm-1. TGA was carried out using a Netzsch thermal analyzer with Proteus software. Samples of approximately 6 mg were placed in alumina pans and heated from 30o to 800 oC at 10 oCmin-1 under a dynamic flow of nitrogen (50 mLmin-1)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Chemical analysis

Table-1(a) shows the chemical composition of raw pineapple leaf and extracted cellulose, meanwhile Table-1(b) shows the chemical composition of raw kapok fiber and extracted cellulose based using TAPPI method. Comparison percentage composition of raw fiber and extracted cellulose carried out by other researchers is also mentioned.

Table-1. (a)Chemical composition of raw pineapple leaf and extracted cellulose.





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Table-1. (b) Chemical composition of raw kapok and extracted cellulose.

FTIR spectroscopy

Figure-1 shows FTIR spectra for raw kapok, standard cellulose and extracted cellulose. Meanwhile, Figure-2 shows FTIR spectra for raw pineapple leaf. The broad band around 3400 cm-1 observed in all the FTIR spectra is attributed to OH group, whereas the peaks at 2900 cm-1 shows the C-H stretching of aliphatic FTIR spectra of commercial standard cellulose (b) and was used as a comparison.

FTIR spectra for raw kapok Figure-1(a) shows two peaks at 1739 cm-1 and 1251 cm-1 due to the carbonyl groups of hemicelluloses. This is in agreement with the results reported by previous researches [18]. Similar to FTIR spectra for raw kapok, the FTIR spectra shows that in the raw pineapple leaves hemicellulose at peaks 1245 and 1375 cm-1. These two peaks were not observed in the FTIR spectra (c) and (d) indicating that dissolution in the DES method used were able to remove hemicelluloses successfully. Aromatic skeletal vibrations of lignin give two strong peaks at 1597 and 1505 cm-1 at raw kapok FTIR spectra (a). These peaks of lignin were disappeared in other FTIR spectra. These results are in line with the results observed by other researchers [19].

The peaks that attributed to cellulose can clearly be observed around 1335 cm-1 (O-H in plane bending), 1160 cm-1 (C-O-C asymmetric stretching) and 898 cm-1 (glucose ring stretching, C1-H deformation) for all the spectra [20]. The peak at 1160 cm-1 slightly shifted to bigger wavenumbers and become narrower. This indicated that amorphous cellulose content qualitatively decreases and becomes more crystalline cellulose [21].

Figure-1. FTIR spectra of the raw kapok (a), MCC (b), Extracted cellulose from (c), kapok (d) pineapple leaf.

Figure-2. FTIR spectra of the raw pineapple leaf. Thermal analysis

Figure-3 presents the TGA thermograms and the corresponding derivative termogravimetry (DTG) curves of the raw kapok, standard cellulose and obtained cellulose. The obvious ‘‘shoulder’’ around 250-300 oC is normally attributed to the thermal degradation for hemicelluloses. The high-temperature ‘‘tails’’ around 400-600 oC were normally attributed to the degradation of lignin [22].

For raw fiber (a) and (e), thermal decomposition occurred in three main steps. These observations are in agreement with findings related to lignocellulosic materials reported by other researchers [23-24]. The first mass loss is below 100oC, due to the release of adsorbed moisture in the material. The second mass loss around 250-300oC, which can be attributed to the degradation of hemicellulose. However, hemicelluloses’ shoulder peaks were not obvious because it is overlapped with main peaks of cellulose. The third mass loss started around 350 oC corresponded to degradation of cellulose. The extracted cellulose from all the dissolution in DES method only showed two-step of degradation. A minor weight loss below 100 oC attributed to the moisture loss by evaporation. Thermal degradation of cellulose at around





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350 oC underlying that cellulose was successfully obtained from all the extraction methods used in this study. TGA and DTG curves of standard cellulose (b) were used as reference.

Based on TGA and DTG curves shown in Figure-3, hemicellulose and lignin were removed effectively. It can also be seen that the thermal stability of extracted cellulose obtained from dissolution in DES were higher than raw kapok fiber. Similar results obtained from raw pineapple leaf and its extracted cellulose.

Figure-3. TGA and DTG curves for (a) raw kapok, (e) raw pineapple leaf (b) standard cellulose. Extracted

cellulose from (c) pineapple leaf (d) kapok fiber.

CONCLUSIONS The result obtained show that the cellulose was

successfully obtained via eco-friendly dissolution in DES method. Most of hemicellulose and lignin were successfully removed. TGA demonstrated that cellulose extracted from dissolution in DES method has higher thermal stability compared to raw fiber. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to express our gratitude to Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi MARA for providing the laboratory facilities and technical support. The financial research work was supported by the Research Acculturation Grant Scheme (RAGS) from the Malaysia Ministry of Higher Education and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) (Grant No. 600-RMI/RAGS 5/3 (209/2014).

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ECO-FRIENDLY EXTRACTION AND … · ECO-FRIENDLY EXTRACTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CELLULOSE FROM LIGNOCELLULOSOIC FIBER ... wood and textile fibers …