Parametric Study on Synthesis of Carboxyl Methyl Cellulose from Ozone Pre-Treated Empty Fruit Bunch Using Fractional Factorial Design Study

Carboxyl methyl cellulose (CMC) is a cellulose derivative that is being used in many industries such as food packaging. This study evaluates the parameter region i.e., NaOH concentration, sodium monochloroacetate (SMCA) ratio, etherification temperature, and time for higher degree of substitution (DS) and viscosity of CMC synthesized from ozone pre-treated empty fruit bunch (EFB), named BiOzCMC. A fractional factorial design (FFD) by using Tibco Statistica software Ver. 13 are selected for the study. The cellulose from EFB, named OzyCELL was isolated by using novel ozonolysis technology (OzBiONY 2.0), followed by sodium hydroxide (NaOH) swelling, and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) bleaching. The OzyCELL was then subjected to alkylation and etherification processes for BiOzCMC synthesis. Based on parametric analysis, the parameter region for DS >0.7, purity >90 % and viscosity >20 cP was found to be between 30 - 35 % of NaOH concentration, SMCA ratio 1:1.2 – 1:2.0, time 1.5 – 2.5 h, and temperature of 65 – 75 °C. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of BiOzCMC is comparable to commercial CMC and displayed excellent stability in dispersion based on zeta potential value (-59.67 mV) with a low crystallinity (35.9 %) and particle size of