EXTRACTION OF CELLULOSE FROM SAWDUST BY USING IONIC LIQUID

Cellulose is one of the major constituent of all plant materials, which formed about half to one-third of all plant tissues and constantly fill up again by photosynthesis process.One of the objectives for this project is to extract cellulose from sawdust by using ionic liquid.The ionic liquid used was called Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) which be functioning as to break the lignin wall from the organic samples.In the extraction process, the 5 samples of sawdust had been immersed into the DMSO and stirred for about 1.5 hours on the hot plate at 50°C.Then, the dissolution of the sawdust has been observed where the colour of the mixture became darker and the viscosity was increased due to the dissolution of the wood.. Next, to characterize the sample, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has been analyzed for cellulose rich extract and brownish liquor called lignin.The difference of IR spectra for cellulose rich extract has been detected where the difference between the peaks.Then the moisture content of the cellulose rich extract obtained shows that the lower the mass of the sawdust, the higher the moisture content obtained.Lastly the particle size analysis also has been analyzed where the volume of mesopores in the sample was higher than the micropore and macropore. .As the conclusion, the extraction of cellulose from sawdust by using DMSO has been done well and the cellulose was successfully been extracted while the lignin has been separated from the wood.In addition, the cellulose rich extract obtained can be used for further research as for example production of cellulose membrane nanofibers.Keyword-sawdust, DMSO, FTIR, IR spectra, ionic liquid, cellulose, lignin I. INTRODUCTION .Cellulose is one of the major constituent of all plant materials, which formed about half to one-third of all plant tissues and constantly fill up again by photosynthesis process.According to [5], the most abundant lignocellulosic resource on Earth is wood.The main component of wood is a macromolecular substance with 40-50% cellulose, 15-25% hemicellulose and 15-30% [7].Cellulose has been used as a raw material for the production of paperboard, paper, fibreboard and any similar product.The excellent characteristics of the cellulose which include the biodegradability and the capacity for the broad chemical modification will increased the interest and encourage the worldwide research on cellulose over the past few decades. .Mostly in the natural plant, the crystalline cellulose is fixed with cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin which make the process difficult to obtain pure cellulose [6].In these recent years, the interest of the research in the cellulose based-materials has been increasing due to the demand for the renewable resources and growing on environmental awareness.[3].Natural cellulose fibers become greater in being used as one of the materials in thermoset and thermoplastics polymeric matrices instead of glass fibers because of their characteristics which are renewability, low density and high specific strength.There are several plants such as wood, cotton, bamboo and hem that rich with cellulose content.There are several plants such as cotton, wood, bamboo, flax, hemp, sisal, and jute that are rich in cellulose.In addition, in the last decade the use of cellulosic waste as a filler has been focused in several research has been growing up rapidly.Many of the agriculture wastes materials such as coconut husk fibers, banana leaves, banana stem, and soy bean have been studied as a raw material in the production of cellulose fiber.Although a variety of natural fibers were investigated in detail, the use of sawdust as a natural source for the production of cellulose has not been explored yet.