Synthesis and characterization of methylcellulose from sugar cane bagasse cellulose

In the present paper, methylcellulose was produced from cellulose extracted of sugar cane bagasse, using dimethyl sulfate in heterogeneous conditions. The infrared spectra of the cellulose and of the methylcellulose present significant differences at the regions from 3600 to 2700 cm−1 and from 1500 to 800 cm−1. The ratio between the absorption intensities of the OH stretching band (∼3400 cm−1) and the CH stretching band (∼2900 cm−1) in the spectra of the methylated samples is lower than that in the cellulose spectrum, evidencing the methylation of the samples. The effect of using toluene and acetone during the synthesis was studied. Without using the solvent, the degree of substitution (DS) of the methylated sample was 0.70, reaching a DS of 1.2 when using acetone. The produced methylcellulose presents chemical and physical properties that increase its range of application and aggregate value to this agro-industrial residue.