On the molecular modeling analyses of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose treated with acetic acid

Abstract

Model molecules for sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (Na-CMC) (monomer), glycerol, acetic acid and Na-CMC-glycerol-acetic acid are optimized with Density Functional Theory (DFT) at B3LYP/3-21G*. For the optimized models, total dipole moment (TDM), the highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (HOMO/LUMO band gap energy), and molecular electrostatic potentials (ESP) are calculated at the same method to give an explanation for the possibility of using Na-CMC-Glycerol-acetic acid model molecule in electrochemical devices, gas sensors and batteries. As a result of the substitution of Na-CMC with glycerol, TDM increased from 7.7141 Debye to 22.4942 Debye which is approximately equal to three times that of Na-CMC. However, HOMO/LUMO band gap energy decreased from 0.9040 eV to 0.5072 eV. After the addition of acetic acid to Na-CMC-glycerol model, TDM increased to24.7270 Debye and HOMO/LUMO band gap energy decreased to 0.4939 eV. Both TDM and HOMO/LUMO band gap energy values are improved by increasing the acetic acid units, where TDM became 25.3510 Debye and HOMO/LUMO band gap energy decreased to 0.3815 eV. The results of ESP indicated that the addition of glycerol and acetic acid to Na-CMC increased the electronegativity of Na-CMC which in turn enhanced its electronic properties.