EXTRACTION & YIELD OPTIMIZATION OF CARBOXYMETHYL CELLULOSE (CMC) FROM WHEAT STRAW

Cellulose is one of the main components of wheat straw used to make carboxymethyl
cellulose (CMC). CMC is a cellulose derivative in which part of the hydroxyl groups (-
CH2-COOH) of the glucopyranose monomers that make up the cellulose backbone have
been bonded by carboxymethyl groups which is widely utilize in the pharmaceutical,
food, textile, biomedical engineering, wastewater treatment detergent, and cosmetic
products industries. The primary components of wheat straw are cellulose 39.1%,
hemicelluloses 25.6%, lignin 23.9 %, ash 9.9% and with less protein present.
Mercerization and etherification using a slurry technique are two chemical steps in the
manufacture of CMC from wheat straw. This research is conducted to optimize CMC
by using various concentration of independent variables. Various process parameters
were analyzed by using different concentration of Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), Nitric
acid (HNO3) and Monochloroacetic acid (MCA). Total 15 combinations of NaOH,
HNO3 and MCA were employed to the Box-Behnken experimental design to find out
the best one. In this regard 10 g of wheat straw was treated with NaOH, HNO3 and
MCA solutions with variations concentration of Sodium hydroxide, Nitric acid and
Monochloroacetic acid. From 2 g of cellulose, maximum CMC yield was obtained at
the concentration of 7.5 g NaOH/50 ml solution, 10 ml HNO3/50 ml solution and 5 g
MCA/50 ml solution. CMC was characterized by using Fourier Transform Infrared
Spectroscopy (FTIR). The transformation of cellulose into carboxymethyl cellulose
was validated by the detection of a C=O bond in the IR spectra at a wavenumber of
1584–1632 cm-1. The result showed that addition of sodium hydroxide was significant factors influence the chemical properties on CMC.

• Supervision