Acetylation of Wood Flour from Four Wood Species Grown in Nigeria Using Vinegar and Acetic Anhydride

Effect of acetylation on pre-treated wood flour of different wood species, Boabab (Adansonia Digitata), Mahoganny (Daniella Oliveri), African locust bean (Parkia Biglobosa) and Beech wood (Gmelina Arborea), has been investigated. Acetylation was carried out in batches using acetic anhydride and then with commercial vinegar in the presence of varying amount of CaCl2 as catalyst and at temperature of 120 °C for 3 h under reflux. The success of acetylation was determined based on Weight Percent Gains. FT-IR spectroscopy, a veritable tool was used for the analysis of both treated and untreated samples to further investigate the success of acetylation. The results showed the presence of important band such as carbonyl absorptions at 1743, 1744, 1746, 1731, 1718 and 1696 cm-1 as appeared separately in the spectra of acetylated samples, confirming esterification occurred. The purpose of this work was to investigate the applicability of vinegar for acetylation of lignocellulosic fibers. Acetic anhydride is a common acetylation reagent, but its utilization is restrictly prohibited in some countries. Using commercial vinegar as an alternative reagent was quite novel and interesting. Blends/composites were prepared by solution casting and their kinetics investigated in distilled water. The results indicated they could be used in outdoor/packaging applications.