Browsing by Author "Sharifah Shahira binti Syed Putra"

In this study, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composite foam reinforced with microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) was prepared using freeze-drying process. The MFC from sugarcane bagasse (SCB) was extracted via chemical treatment assisted with ultrasonication. However, a noteworthy problem of incorporating MFC-SCB into PVA foam is that their low melting point, lacks fine interfacial adhesion and high moisture absorption. Therefore, in this study, the PVA-MFC foam was chemically silylated with Ƴ- methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS) and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) to overcome the weakness of incorporating MFC-SCB into PVA foam. It was found that PVA-MFC foam with PVA molecular weight of 50 kDa, concentration of MFC-SCB suspension 2 w/v % and 20 w/v % concentration of PVA resulted the highest porosity (68 %) and lowest density (0.48 g cm-1). This PVA-MFC foam denoted as 2,20PVA-MFC. Preferred silanization parameter of 2,20PVA-MFC foam was found at 10 wt % of silane concentration and two hours of reaction time. The wetting ability and mechanical strength of the silylated 2,20PVA-MFC foam was greatly enhanced compared with unmodified 2,20PVA-MFC foam. The silane chemicals (MPS and TEOS) had been confirmed grafted on 2,20PVA-MFC foam due to presence of Si-C and Si-O-C stretching vibration in fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra and cloud-like coating of porous pore was observed in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs. In addition, the silylated 2,20PVA-MFC foam (MPS and TEOS) exhibit a series of desirable properties such as lower swelling ratio and high absorption capacity of solvents and oils. The characterization of 2,20PVA-MFC foam using TEOS was further investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS) analysis and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area. A significant morphological difference between the unmodified and silylated 2,20PVA-MFC-TEOS foam was clearly observed through FESEM micrographs. Despite that, the XPS and BET analysis also exhibit Si 2p spectrum and low specific surface area on the silylated 2,20PVA-MFC-TEOS foam, respectively. This versatile silylated 2,20PVA-MFC foam could therefore be a promising option as a novel adsorption material for solvent and oil removal in the treatment of polluted water.