Optimization of process variables of carboxymethyl cellulose production from alpha-cellulose obtained from cotton Linter using response surface methodology

Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is one of the important cellulose derivatives in industries, which is widely used as anti-caking agent, emulsifier, stabilizer, dispersing agent, thickener, and gelling agent. The main raw material of cellulose derivative is cellulose from wood and cotton linter. In this study, the cotton linter alpha-cellulose was used for producing CMC. Acidified sodium hydroxide process was applied to extract the cellulose from linter alpha-cellulose. Carboxymethyl cellulose was then prepared from cellulose. The optimization of reaction conditions was studied by using response surface methodology (RSM). The design experiment is Box-Behnken design consists of 3 factors (reaction time, % NaOH in mercerization process and mass ratio of monochloroacetic acid to cellulose in etherification process) with 3 levels. Based on it, the optimum values of independent variables are the reaction time of 54.23 min, NaOH concentration of 41.25 % and mass ratio of MCA to cellulose of 1.44 which the CMC had the DS of 0.656, the viscosity of 6634.76 cP. Fourier Transform Infrared spectra (FTIR) were used to characterize the product and starting Cotton Linter Alpha-cellulose.