Effective oxidation of cellulosic fibers using ammonium persulfate as an oxidant with little environmental risk

Today, cellulose is widely used in various industries and its use is increasing. In recent years, researchers are also looking for new applications of cellulose products. Oxidation pretreatment is known as one of the most common pretreatments in the production of nanofibrillated cellulose. In recent years, oxidation using ammonium persulfate (APS) has been proposed as a simple method with little environmental concerns. In this study, different percentages of APS were used to evaluate its effectiveness on carboxylation of cellulose fibers. FTIR spectroscopy indicated that increasing the use of ammonium persulfate (up to ۲ M) increased the formation of carboxyl groups by increasing intensity of the peak at ۱۷۰۰ cm-۱. Also, microscopic images showed increasing the use of ammonium persulfate causes the destruction and shortening of the treated fibers.

Keywords:

cellulose , oxidation , ammonium persulfate , carboxylation