Indonesian Journal of Chemical Research (May 2024)
Preparation and Characterization of Cellulose Acetate from Pandanus tectorius via Microwave Irradiation
Abstract
This research focuses on extracting cellulose from thorn pandan and evaluating its potential as a raw material for cellulose acetate. Thorn pandan contains polysaccharides, especially cellulose. In its fabrication process, cellulose acetate is produced from cellulose acetylation reaction. Cellulose is extracted using the Microwave-assisted Extraction method with variations in NaOH concentration (1, 2, and 3%), H2O2 concentration (10, 20, and 30%), and time variables (20, 40, and 60 minutes). Extraction optimization was performed with Response Surface Methodology (RSM) model BBD (Box-Behken Design). Several characterizations were carried out to determine the characteristics of cellulose acetate, namely Degree of Acetylation, FT-IR spectroscopy and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The highest cellulose yield obtained in the extraction process was 50.7% with a variable of 3% NaOH, 30% H2O2 and 60 minutes. XRD analysis shows the angle value 2θ = 22.53798° of thorn pandan cellulose structure is almost similar to commercial cellulose. FTIR functional group identification of cellulose acetate showed the presence of carbonyl (C=O) and (C-O Acetyl) group, respectively seen at wave numbers 1734 cm-1 and 1256 cm-1. The acetyl content of cellulose acetate from thorn pandan produced is 35.475%. Therefore, thorn pandan biomass has the potential as a raw material for making cellulose acetate.