Open AccessISOLATION OF CELLULOSE DERIVED FROM ORANGE PEEL AND ITS APPLICATION IN BIODEGRADABLE FILMS
Author(s) -
Vanessa Ng Wen Yi,
Choo Huey Ng,
Yi Peng Teoh,
Ooi Zhong Xian,
Shuit Siew Hoong
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
cellulose chemistry and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.302
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 2457-9459
pISSN - 0576-9787
DOI - 10.35812/cellulosechemtechnol.2021.55.31
Subject(s) - crystallinity , ultimate tensile strength , cellulose , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , microcrystalline cellulose , thermal stability , chemistry , materials science , polymer chemistry , chemical engineering , polyvinyl alcohol , composite material , nuclear chemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
"In this study, cellulose was extracted and isolated from orange peel (OP) via alkaline treatment, followed by ableaching process. The orange peel derived cellulose (OPDC) was characterized and compared with microcrystallinecellulose (MCC). FTIR characterization confirmed the absorption peaks of cellulose for both OPDC and MCC. Fromthe DSC analysis, it was found that MCC possessed higher thermal stability than OPDC. In addition, the results ofFESEM and particle size analysis revealed the micro-size dimension of OPDC after the pretreatments. The crystallinityindex (CrI) of OPDC (80.14%) was found to be significantly higher than that of untreated OP (23.54%). After that,biodegradable blended films with different weight ratio were prepared using OPDC and MCC with polyvinyl alcohol(PVA) by the solution casting method. According to the FTIR spectra, the shift of the characteristic absorption bandand the change of the band intensity observed in the spectra of the PVA/OPDC blended films were similar to those ofthe PVA/MCC blended films. This confirmed the development of new inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bonds andchanges in the conformation between PVA and cellulose. The tensile strength and elongation at break of bothPVA/OPDC and PVA/MCC blended films decreased when the cellulose content increased in the PVA matrix.However, the elastic modulus of both films was enhanced when the amount of cellulose increased. By comparison, thePVA/OPDC blended film presented higher tensile strength and elastic modulus than the PVA/MCC blended film.Based on the natural weathering tests, the degradability of blended films increased with a rising amount of celluloseafter exposure to degradation tests. The biodegradability of blended films was confirmed by the tiny black spotsobserved on their surface, which reflected the growth of microorganisms. It was further proven by the morphologystudies performed on the surface of the films using FESEM."