Synthesis and Characterization of a Gel-Biopolymer from Cane Sugar and Polymethyl acrylate
- August 29, 2020
- Posted by: RSIS Team
- Categories: Environmental Science, IJRIAS
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS) | Volume V, Issue IV, July 2020 | ISSN 2454-6194
Synthesis and Characterization of a Gel-Biopolymer from Cane Sugar and Polymethyl acrylate
Alex O. Akinsanoye, Mopelola A. Omotoso, Oluwaseun O. Afolabi
Department of Chemistry, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
*Corresponding author
Abstract: The use of cane sugar for the preparation of gel biopolymer was studied as an alternative to petroleum based gels due to their biodegradability. The sugar used was in the form of syrup obtained from evaporation of extracted cane juice. Polymethyacrylate(PMA) was obtained by polymerizing methylacrylate monomer(MA). This was copolymerized with the syrup from the cane sugar to obtain the sugar-based acrylate biopolymer (Sugar-g-PMA) via graft copolymerization of PMA using acidified potassium permanganate as initiator at 900C. The product obtained was a dark brown gel. FTIR and 1H-NMR were used to characterize the sugar, PMA and the copolymer. The percentage of cane sugar juice extracted was 47.94% while percentage syrup obtained from the extracted cane juice was 15.22%. FTIR spectrum prominent bands found in the cane sugar were 3365.00cm-1 and 1052.00cm-1 for O-H stretch and C-O stretch respectively. The PMA shows the C-O stretch, C=O peak and CH2 bend respectively at 1165.47cm-1, 1737.37cm-1 and 3426.00cm-1 to confirm ester functional group moiety . The disappearance of the carbonyl peak at 1737.37cm-1 in the new Sugar-g-PMA gel copolymer confirm the grafting process. The 1H-NMR spectrum prominent peaks found in the cane sugar were 4.04ppm, 3.81ppm and 3.66ppm which confirmed the OCH2 and O-H group in the sugar moiety. The PMA showed important signals at 3.87ppm, 3.79ppm and 3.64ppm that confirm the presence of ester functional group. The 1H-NMR spectrum of the Sugar-g-PMA showed a novel peak at 9.52ppm that confirm grafting process. The FTIR and 1H-NMR results showed that the graft copolymerization reaction was successful. The Sugar-g-PMA gel produced represents an additional contribution to sustainability and production of environmentally friendly bio-based polymeric material.
Keywords: Biodegradability, Cane-sugar, gel biopolymer, polymethylacrylate, copolymer
