Parametric and Optimization Study on the Production of Cellulose Nanocrystals (CNC) from Gmelina (Gmelina arborea Roxb.) by Acid Hydrolysis
Author : Mamino, Alejandro Javier
Major Adviser : Razal, Ramon A.
Committee Members : Gatdula, Kristel M.; Mendoza, Rosalie C.; Migo, Veronica P.
Year : 2019
Month : June
Type : Thesis
Degree: BS
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Abstract
The study on the effect of temperature, sulfuric acid concentration and duration of hydrolysis on the yield of cellulosic nanocrystals from a cellulose preparation of Kraft pulp of Gmelina (Gmelina arborea Roxb.) was performed using 2k full factorial design. Statistical analysis showed that temperature significantly affects the yield of cellulosic nanocrystals from Gmelina. As temperature increased, the yield of cellulose nanocrystals also increased within a specified range of temperature (45 oC to 55 oC) that avoided caramelization of the cellulose substrate. After determining that temperature was the only significant factor in the acid hydrolysis of cellulose from Gmelina, a one-factor response surface methodology (RSM) experiment was done to optimize nanocellulose production. Statistical analysis showed that the optimum temperature to produce cellulose nanocrystals from Gmelina was approximately 48 oC, with a sulfuric acid concentration of 46 % (v/v) and hydrolysis reaction duration of 30 mins. The predicted maximum yield value was 6.14 % while the experimentally obtained percent yields were 5.09 % and 4.96 %, giving an average of 5.02 % and an error of 18.19 %, which are within the 95 % confidence interval. Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) of the cellulose nanocrystals showed that the particle sizes for the hydrolyzed samples are within the 100 nm to 1000 nm range. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) of the cellulose nanocrystals provided similar average particle sizes. Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) analysis showed that the crystalline region is more prevalent in the cellulosic nanocrystals than in raw Gmelina Kraft pulp.
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