Synthesis of Cellulose Stearate Ester as Wet Strength Agent for Synthesis of Bio-polybag from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch

Biodegradable polybags are an alternative to overcome the weakness of synthetic polybags because of their degradation properties. Oil palm empty fruit bunches contain a lot of cellulose so that they can be used as a biodegradable polybag. Wet Strength serves to increase the physical strength of bio-polybags when exposed to water (in wet conditions) so that water content stability is required. In this study, Cellulose Stearate Esters were synthesized in an effort to increase the stability of the water content in bio-polybags. Cellulose Stearate Esters are synthesized through a transesterification reaction between -Cellulose isolated from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) with methyl stearate. The synthesis of cellulose stearate esters was carried out by refluxing for 2 hours using methanol solvent with various catalysts Na2CO3 5, 10, 15, 20 mg and with volume variations of methyl stearate 5, 10, 15. And the best variation was determined based on the degree of substitution test, namely with variations Na2CO3 catalyst 20 mg and volume of methyl Stearate 15 ml, amounting to 1.95. The result of the synthesis, namely cellulose stearate, was tested for functional groups by FT-IR spectroscopy and surface morphology using SEM. The formation of cellulose stearate is supported by the FT-IR spectrum in the wavenumber region of 3468.01 cm-1 indicating an OH group, 3062.96 cm-1 indicating a CH stretching group, 1695.43 cm-1 indicating a C=O group, cm-1 indicating a CH bending group, 1095.57cm-1 indicates a COC group, 609.51cm-1 indicates a (CH2)n>4 group. The results of surface morphology analysis using SEM showed that the surface of cellulose stearate looked homogeneous, more regular and had denser cavities than -Cellulose

Bifunctional Pt-Mo catalyst for in-situ hydrogenation of methyl stearate into alkanes using formic acid as a hydrogen donor

Biofuels have aroused considerable interest as a direct substituent of fossil fuels due to energy crisis and greenhouse effect. In this article, bifunctional Pt-Mo catalyst supported on activated carbon (AC)...

Methyl Esterification Combined with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) for Determining the Contents of Lubricant to Evaluate the Compatibility of Chlorinated Butyl Rubber Stoppers with Liposome Injections

A simple, sensitive, and exact methyl esterification in combination with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method was developed to determine the contents of palmitic acid and stearic acid in the chlorinated butyl rubber stoppers and liposome injections in order to evaluate the compatibility of pharmaceutical packaging materials. In this experiment, palmitic acid and stearic acid were detected in the form of methyl hexadecanoate and methyl stearate in chlorinated butyl rubber stoppers and liposome injections. The results showed good linearities in the range of 0.50–10.00 µg·mL−1 for methyl hexadecanoate and 1.00–20.00 µg·mL−1 for methyl stearate, with the limits of detection (LOD) 11.94 ng·mL−1 and 11.90 ng·mL−1, respectively. The recoveries that ranged from 95.25% to 100.29% were satisfied, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was no more than 7.16%. The developed method was successfully applied to evaluate the compatibility of chlorinated butyl rubber stoppers with liposome injections and the safety assessment.