Method for Deriving Carboxymethyl Cellulose

Abstract

Chemical conversions proceeding in solid substances under mechanical effects are of great practical importance. At solid-phase mechanochemical interaction of powder cellulose and rice husks with a carboxymethylation agent, i.e. sodium monochloracetate, one obtained a product, the composition and properties of which are similar to commercial carboxymethyl cellulose. The given products were synthesized using laboratory microgrinder of a planetary type MA-1. Carboxymethyl cellulose obtained from powder cellulose is water-soluble product. Solubility of carboxymethyl cellulose synthesized from rice husks is about 80-95%. Viscosity of 5% aqueous solutions of the products from powder cellulose is about 2-5 mPa⋅s and viscosity of 10% aqueous solutions of the products from rice husks is about 4-6 mPa⋅s. It corresponds to viscosity of 1% solution of the commercial carboxymethyl cellulose. Carboxymethyl cellulose, obtained from powder cellulose and rice husks, represents a cheap product for petroleum, gas and building branches. Application of efficient and ecologically convenient solid-phase mechanochemical technology of carboxymethylation cellulose-containing products allows using accessible cellulose-containing scraps as raw material without their preliminary preparation and clearing. One can use carboxymethyl cellulose obtained by the solid-phase technology developed to control viscosity of water-based drilling fluids. Solubility and viscosity of these products depend on parameters of the processing and are compared to similar properties of commercial carboxymethyl cellulose.