Utilising cellulose acetate derived from recycled cotton waste for efficient oil removal in water Fatin Azzahra Fauzi and Fuad Mohamad* Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia *m.fuad@utm.my The recycling of cotton waste, a common by-product of the cosmetic industry, offers a sustainable solution for its conversion into functional materials. 1 Cellulose, a major constituent of cotton wools 2 , can be extracted and subsequently acetylated to produce cellulose acetate, which can be served as a potential oil adsorbent. This study is aimed to extract cellulose from cotton waste and functionalise it through an acetylation process, resulting in cellulose acetate for oil adsorption applications. 3,4 The methodology involves bleaching used cotton with hydrogen peroxide, followed by hydrolysis with sulphuric acid to obtain cellulose. Acetylation was then performed using acetic acid to synthesize cellulose acetate. The resulting products were characterized using infrared spectroscopy to confirm functional groups, thermal analysis to determine thermal stability, and powder X-ray diffraction to observe crystallinity. The cellulose acetate exhibited a broader range of decomposition temperatures compared to the unfunctionalized cellulose. The effectiveness of cellulose acetate as an oil adsorbent was evaluated by testing its ability to remove engine oil from water. A noticeable increase in the mass of cellulose acetate before and after the oil adsorption process underscored its efficacy in removing oil from water surfaces. In conclusion, the synthesis of cellulose acetate from cotton waste proved to be a cost-effective and recyclable alternative for oil removal from water surfaces, presenting a viable solution for addressing environmental pollution concerns. References 1. Lu, L. et al. Current recycling strategies and high-value utilization of waste cotton. Science of the Total Environment vol. 856 Preprint at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158798 (2023). 2. Tabaght, F. E. et al. Grafting method of fluorinated compounds to cellulose and cellulose acetate: Characterization and biodegradation study. Cellulose Chemistry and Technology 55 , (2021). 3. Yadav, N. & Hakkarainen, M. Degradation of Cellulose Acetate in Simulated Aqueous Environments: One-Year Study. Macromol Mater Eng 307 , (2022). 4. Potthast, A. et al. Acetylation of cellulose – Another pathway of natural cellulose aging during library storage of books and papers. Carbohydr Polym 287 , (2022).
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