Some Physical and Spectral Analyses of Cellulose Derivative

Abstract

Cellulose is a simple polymer and is the most abundant regrowing organic material with outstanding properties and a variety of useful applications. Cellulose and its derivatives were subjected to various processes in order to enhance and modify its properties. Cellulose acetate (CA) and cellulose acetate–ZnO blended materials were prepared. The blend material was prepared by casting cellulose acetate with dispersed different concentration of ZnO. The influence of ZnO concentration on the molecular structure of the polymer material was examined by means of Fourier Transforme Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD).FTIR shows the main characteristic bands of pure cellulose acetate. These bands shift to new position upon the addition of ZnO. A new band is appearing around 472 cm⁻¹ which indicate the presence of ZnO. This band shifts to lower wavenumber by increasing the concentration of ZnO in cellulose acetate. XRD results indicate that the material is amorphous even after the addition of ZnO except at 1.0 wt% where three peaks are observed at two theta ranging from 30 to 40 degree. Also the effect of addition of ZnO at different concentration on the optical properties of cellulose acetate is examined as a function of wavelength in the range from 200 - 1500 nm using spectrophotometric measurements at nearly normal incidence. It is found that theonset gap decreases from 2.54 to 1.69 eV also HOMO-LUMO gap decreases from 3.59 to 2.33eVby the addition of ZnO.Ac conductivity and dielectric properties were studied in the frequency range (42-5000000 Hz) and in temperature range (303-363 K). The ac measurements revealed that the dominant conduction mechanism for cellulose acetate with different concentration of ZnOis Correlated Barrier model (CBH). The dielectric studies show an increase in polarization with increasing ZnO concentration. A decrease in relaxation dielectric constant was observed.