Acetylation of Cotton Stalk for Cellulose Acetate Production

Cellulose acetate polymers were developed from pretreated cotton stalk (cellulose). The cellulose was acetylated through reaction with acetic acid and acetic anhydride in the presence of sulphuric acid as catalyst. The relationship between reaction time, catalyst loading and temperature on the weight percent gain and percent acetyl content of the cellulose acetate were investigated. Optimization of process conditions for acetylation via response surface methodology (RSM) revealed that the maximum weight percent gain (WPG) and percent acetyl content (PAC) were 50.79% and 43.73% respectively. The corresponding optimum operating conditions were 2.76 hrs, 6.09 wt% and 40.07 oC, for reaction time, catalyst loading and temperature respectively, while glacial acetic acid to cellulose ratio and acetic anhydride to cellulose ratio were 6:1 and 4.36:1 respectively. The result revealed that acetylation of cellulose extracted from cotton stalk was successful as indicated by the characteristic peaks in the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra and the decrease in the degree of crystallinity observed in the XRD patterns