Production of cellulose acetate from Acacia Mangium for wood coating lacquer

• Main Author: Melissa Sharmah Gilbert @ Jesuet
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: SD391-410.9 Sylviculture
• Online Access: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/38512/1/24%20PAGES.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/38512/2/FULLTEXT.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/38512/

Cellulose acetate (CA) is a semi-synthetic industrial fiber that has a wide-range of application that includes materials for molded goods and fabrics, as well as filter membrane, cigarette tow, and coating. This study focuses on the production of coating from Acacia mangium-produced cellulose acetate. It covers the selection of the A. mangium fibers for development into the intermediate CA, followed by the optimum condition for the production of CA, and finally the performance of the end product of the Acacia mangium-based CA for wood coating. The fiber characteristic of the A. mangium wood and pulp fiber was determined and compared, where the pulp fiber was shown to potentially be a better material in the development of CA due to the higher cellulose composition of nearly 100% of percentage difference if compared to the wood fibers. Structurally, the pulp also displays better fibrillated structure and slightly higher derived value compared to the wood fiber for thefiber dimensions, with percentage difference not more than 10% for most. The selected form of pulp fiber underwent acetylation process through the reaction with acetic anhydride and acetic acid, where certain condition was manipulated, which includes the pretreatment process, amount of catalyst, pulp particle size, and reaction time to obtain the optimum condition. The result shows the pretreated A. mangium pulp fiber of 200-mesh size that underwent 36 hours of acetylation, with the highest catalyst usage of 0.10 ml earned the most ideal DS of 2.81, in the development of coatings. The formation of the acetate lacquer coating loosely follows the U.S. patent no. 2426379 that includes the fusion of melamine formaldehyde and ethyl acetate. The performance of the A. mangium cellulose acetate (AMCA) lacquer was evaluated and compared with a control lacquer that was produced from a commercial CA (CCA), based on the mechanical and physical performance. The AMCA lacquer is proven to be on par or better than that of CCA lacquer with better staining resistance and lower water absorption rate for the physical, and a higher durability for the impact, abrasion, and hardness test for the mechanical performance. These properties further justify the ergonomics of the most abundant organic compound on Earth, which is the cellulose, as an alternative for petroleumbased products while indicating the feasibility of a wide-range unconventional product development of the A. mangium species as a whole.