Synthesis of di- and tri-cellulose acetate from rice husk cellulose and commercial microcrystalline by copper perchlorate catalyst

Abstract This work describes the synthesis of various di- and tri-cellulose acetates from rice husk cellulose (RHC) and commercial microcrystalline cellulose (CMCC) using copper(II) perchlorate hexahydrate (Cu(ClO 4 ) 2 ·6H 2 O) as an effective catalyst at room temperature and 50 °C. This investigation was conducted using different amounts of Cu(ClO 4 ) 2 ·6H 2 O (100, 200, 300 mg) and 2 g of cellulose for various times (0.5–6 h) in the presence of a constant volume of acetic anhydride (15 mL). Multiple reactions have led to the formation of di- and tri-cellulose acetates. CMCC was remarkably converted into cellulose acetate at room temperature and 50 °C, with yields of 98.10% and 96.10%, respectively. The extracted cellulose from rice husk produced di- and tri-cellulose acetate at room temperature and 50 °C, yielding 86.93% and 92.85%, respectively. Critical expected results were obtained in this work: a strong relationship was found between the degree of substitution (DS) and acetyl percentage (AP%) of the products, the catalyst level in the reaction mixture, the presence or absence of temperature, and the reaction time. The DS and AP% were characterized using FTIR, 1 H-NMR, XRD, and the thermal stability was evaluated by TGA and DTA. This work presents a new catalyst that can produce varying degrees of cellulose acetylation by adjusting reaction temperature, catalyst amount, and reaction duration.