The Production of Cellulose Acetate From Kapok Cellulose With Different Acetylation Conditions

Abstract

Abstract Cellulose acetate (CA) was produced from cellulose through activation and acetylation reactions. This study focused on using kapok cellulose as the starting material in converting cellulose into CA as the final reaction product. In the production of CA from kapok cellulose, acetic acid was used to activate the cellulose before acetylating it with acetic anhydride and sulfuric acid. A total of 27 experiments with varying acetic acid amounts (17.5, 20, 22.5 mL), acetic anhydride (5, 7.5, 10 mL) and acetylation reaction time (30, 45, 60 min) were designed to evaluate CA formation. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to evaluate the CA formation by identifying its present functional group. The analysis showed that CA produced from 20 mL acetic acid, 10 mL acetic anhydride and 60 min acetylation reaction time as the highest peak intensities of the three major functional groups (C = O, C-H, and C-O). This indicated that CA formed from this condition has the strongest acetyl bonding among the conditions. Scanning electron microscopy evidenced the CA formation, yet they varied with different amounts of acetic acid, acetic anhydride and acetylation reaction time.