title: Ultrasonic-assisted deacetylation of cellulose acetate nanofibers: A rapid method to produce cellulose nanofibers.
abstract: Herein we report a rapid method for deacetylation of cellulose acetate (CA) nanofibers in order to produce cellulose nanofibers using ultrasonic energy. The CA nanofibers were fabricated via electrospinning thereby treated with NaOH and NaOH/EtOH solutions at various pH levels for 30, 60 and 90min assisted by ultrasonic energy. The nanofiber webs were optimized by degree of deacetylation (DD%) and wicking behavior. The resultant nanofibers were further characterized by FTIR, SEM, WAXD, DSC analysis. The DD% and FTIR results confirmed a complete conversion of CA nanofibers to cellulose nanofibers within 1h with substantial increase of wicking height. Nanofibers morphology under SEM showed slightly swelling and no damage of nanofibers observed by use of ultrasonic energy. The results of ultrasonic-assisted deacetylation are comparable with the conventional deacetylation. Our rapid method offers substantially reduced deacetylation time from 30h to just 1h, thanks to the ultrasonic energy.
authors.affiliation: Nanomaterials Research Lab, Department of Textile Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro 76062, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Farooq
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.affiliation: Nanomaterials Research Lab, Department of Textile Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro 76062, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Alvira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ayoub Arbab
authors.affiliation: Nanomaterials Research Lab, Department of Textile Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro 76062, Pakistan; Nano Fusion Technology Research Group, Division of Frontier Fibers, Institute for Fiber Engineering (IFES), Interdisciplinary Cluster for Cutting Edge Research (ICCER), Shinshu University, Tokida 3-15-1, Ueda, Nagano Prefecture 386-8567, Japan.
authors.forename: Abdul Wahab
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Jatoi
authors.affiliation: Nano Fusion Technology Research Group, Division of Frontier Fibers, Institute for Fiber Engineering (IFES), Interdisciplinary Cluster for Cutting Edge Research (ICCER), Shinshu University, Tokida 3-15-1, Ueda, Nagano Prefecture 386-8567, Japan.
authors.forename: Muzamil
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khatri
authors.affiliation: National Center of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Najma
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Memon
authors.affiliation: Nanomaterials Research Lab, Department of Textile Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro 76062, Pakistan; Nano Fusion Technology Research Group, Division of Frontier Fibers, Institute for Fiber Engineering (IFES), Interdisciplinary Cluster for Cutting Edge Research (ICCER), Shinshu University, Tokida 3-15-1, Ueda, Nagano Prefecture 386-8567, Japan. Electronic address: zeeshan.khatri@faculty.muet.edu.pk.
authors.forename: Zeeshan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Khatri
authors.affiliation: Nano Fusion Technology Research Group, Division of Frontier Fibers, Institute for Fiber Engineering (IFES), Interdisciplinary Cluster for Cutting Edge Research (ICCER), Shinshu University, Tokida 3-15-1, Ueda, Nagano Prefecture 386-8567, Japan. Electronic address: kim@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Ick Soo
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Cellulose acetate; Cellulose nanofibers; Deacetylation; Electrospinning; Ultrasonic energy