Study and Optimization of the Polymerization Parameter of Furfuryl Alcohol by Algerian Modified Clay

Abstract

Furfuryl alcohol (FA) which is derived from lignocellulosic biomass polymerizes into poly(furfuryl alcohol) (PFA) under acidic catalysis. A greener and more sustainable catalytic pathway was suggested in order to replace hazardous acidic catalysts by Algerian modified clay (maghnite-H+ or mag-H+). The possibility of the polymerization of FA by mag-H+ was reported, and it was found that the polymerization of FA was initiated by mag-H+ in dichloromethane. The reaction parameters such as time, temperature, and mag-H+/monomer weight ratio were optimized to improve the yield of the reaction and increase the average molecular weight. The kinetics indicated that the polymerization rate is first-order with respect to monomer concentration. The structural analysis of the polymer was carried out by IR, 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopies. Thermal properties of the polymer were studied by TGA and DSC analyses. The novelty of this work is the exploitation of local clay that is widely available, inexpensive and has excellent properties and high quality features, which make it the subject of continuing research. These results will be a starting point and an essential reference for a comparative study, with the results of future work concerning the synthesis of PFA/maghnite nanocomposites.