Preparation and characterization of sugarcane bagasse hemicellulosic derivatives containing quaternary ammonium groups in various media

To increase the solubility and produce cationic or ampholytic polymers as beater additives in papermaking from native hemicelluloses, quaternization of hemicelluloses were performed by reacting hemicelluloses with 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride (CHMAC) and preferably with 2,3-epoxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride (ETA) in aqueous sodium hydroxide, homogenously in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and completely heterogeneously in ethanol/water, respectively. The extent of modification was measured by degree of substitution (DS), and its value of up to 0.55 can be controlled by adjusting the molar ratio of reagent to hydroxyl functionality in hemicelluloses and the concentration of sodium hydroxide. The characterization of hemicellulosic derivatives was performed by elemental analysis, GPC, FT-IR and 13C NMR spectroscopy as well as thermal analysis. It was found that hemicellulosic polymer was significantly degraded in aqueous sodium hydroxide solution compared with in dimethyl sulfoxide and in ethanol/water systems under the conditions given. The thermal stability of modified hemicelluloses decreased after chemical modification, corresponding to the decreasing Mw of hemicelluloses derivatives.