Application of hydrophobically modified cellulose from oil palm frond in Pickering emulsions stabilization

Abstract

This study investigated Pickering emulsions stabilized by hydrophobically modified cellulose from oil palm frond (OPF). The Cellulose modification was performed in aqueous medium using benzoyl chloride as modifying agent. Characterizations showed that isolated native cellulose (NC) suffered no structural degradation while surface degradation and improved thermal properties was observed in the modified cellulose (CB-10). Proximate analysis revealed that oil palm frond is a good source of cellulose and hemicellulose. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that the crystallinity index (CrI) of NC and CB-10 derivative are 71.98% and 61.64% respectively. Also, the Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed that modified cellulose is more thermally stable than unmodified cellulose. The Pickering emulsions stabilized by isolated native cellulose (NC) was unstable at all concentrations investigated while Pickering emulsions stabilized by modified cellulose (CB-10) are stable and this showed that modified cellulose derivative from oil palm frond is a promising material for food, drug delivery, encapsulation and biomedical applications.

Keywords

• Hydrophobic
• Crystallinity
• Aqueous medium
• Pickering emulsion
• Oil palm frond