PROSES PEMBUATAN NITROSELULOSA DARI LIMBAH PELEPAH SAWIT

Abstract

Midrib of palm oil plantations is a solid waste that has not been fully utilized. One utilization of the cellulose is nitration reaction on cellulose that produce nitrocellulose. Nitrocellulose is a form of commercial polymers that used in the manufacture of explosives and manufacture of various industrial products. This study aims to find the best conditions on cellulose nitration process by varying the ratio of palm midrib nitric acid and rapid mixing to produce nitrocellulose which has high nitrogen levels. Nitration is done by the addition of nitric acid in sulfuric acid media. The weight ratio of palm midrib with nitric acid was varied at 15:120; 15:140; 15:160; 15:180, and 15:200, while the stirring speed was varied by 65, 110, 160, 210 and 260 rpm. Product washed with distilled water and bicarbonate, than dried in a desiccator. Qualitative testing is done by Fourier Transform Infra Red spectroscopy (FTIR) to see the uptake of NO2 groups results in the substitution of the OH groups of cellulose whereas nitrogen nitration results seen from the ternary diagram nitrated cellulose. The results showed that the best conditions on cellulose nitration process has not been obtained due to all the variations that do indicate the presence of a cluster of NO2 absorption in FTIR analysis has indicated that the formation of nitrocellulose and cellulose nitration reading ternary diagram obtained nitrocellulose nitrogen content of 6.8%.