The cellulose of Boehmeria nivea as natural flocculants: synthesis, modification, and flocculation analysis

Abstract

Due to their non-toxicity and biodegradability, natural polymeric flocculants have gained popularity in water and wastewater treatment in recent years. Because of its broad availability, renewability, sustainability, and surface modification potential, cellulose, the most common polymer on the planet, is regarded as one of the foundation polymers for flocculant production and modification. The following article consists of a review of the latest developments regarding biopolymers, in particular, cellulose as a natural flocculant. One of the plants that can be developed in Indonesia is Boehmeria nivea, or what is known as Ramie, which contains cellulose that is still not utilized optimally. There is a method of isolation of alpha-cellulose derived from Boehmeria nivea and its application as a flocculant in synthetic wastewater presented in this paper. The alpha-cellulose of Boehmeria nivea was used as a flocculant in jar testing using kaolin suspension (5 g/L). The study shows that adding alpha-cellulose as an aid to PAC slightly increased the turbidity removal efficiency, and further modification of alpha-cellulose by cationic grafts into cationic cellulose is needed.

The synthesis and use of α-cellulose and cationic cellulose from Boehmeria nivea as bio-flocculants in flocculation of kaolin suspension

“…It is reported that the zeta potential of the kaolin suspension used in this research had an average value of -28 mV. Further modi cation of three types of α-celluloses of C1, C3, and C4 by cationization was performed to increase the zeta potential to a positive value (Fauzani et al 2021) into cationic celluloses: CSC1, CSC3, and CSC4. The cationic cellulose samples were analyzed in triplicate, with measurements of 2.2, 1.2, and 13 mV, respectively.…”

“…Boehmeria nivea were obtained from Ramindo Berkah Persada Sejahtera, Wonosobo, Central Java. α-cellulose of Boehmeria nivea was isolated with a method adapted from previous studies (Sumada et al 2011;Liew et al 2015;Vandamme et al 2015;Nawangsari et al 2018;Nawangsari 2019) and was performed as described in Fauzani et al (2021). Brataco Chemicals supplied sodium hydroxide compound and kaolinite powder.…”

“…A sampling of supernatant was taken at 5, 10, 15, 30, 60, and 90 minutes of settling time, measured by a Lovibond PCCheckIt Turbidimeter. As a control, the use of 20 mg/L PAC without the addition of α-cellulose is expressed as C0 (Table 1), obtained from a previous study (Fauzani et al 2021). The second experiment was carried out with six types of α-cellulose as bio occulants without the addition of a coagulant, which was called the direct occulation process.…”

“…The presence of this hydroxyl group makes the hydroxylation process unnecessary in the synthesis of cellulose-based bio occulants, so it is expected to minimize the formation of sediment in the deposition process. Bio occulants derived from the α-cellulose of Boehmeria nivea have been successfully synthesized (Fauzani et al 2021;Fauzani et al 2022). This work presents the continuation of modifying the α-cellulose of Boehmeria nivea into cationic cellulose by reaction with 3-chloro-2hydroxypropyl-trimethylammonium chloride (CHPTAC) (Li et al 2015;Zhang et al 2016;Aguado et al 2018).…”

Application of cellulose of Boehmeria nivea as natural flocculants in direct flocculation

“…8/ @*< 8+=*27.-@2=1 *7 2<85*=287 6.=18-*-*9=.-/;86 9;. ?28>< <=>-2.< [19,20,21,22,23] and was done as described in Fauzani et al (2021) [24]. In general, the processes are pre-hydrolysis with acetic acid, delignification with sodium hydroxide, and bleaching process with sodium chlorite.…”