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Chitosan-cellulose nanocomposite: Preparation, characterization, and evaluation as cationic color precipitant in sugar clarification process

Research Abstract

The present paper aims to use natural biodegradable polymers of chitosan (CS) and cellulose (CEL) to synthesize green chitosan-cellulose (CS-CEL) nanocomposite as a new clarifying agent. This is the cutting-edge of the sugar industry's clarification process. The CS-CEL nanocomposite showed outstanding results in zeta potential analysis, with a maximum value (+) 57.73 mV, leading to remarkable results in color adsorption via electrostatic attraction. It was also observed that CS-CEL has high mechanical stability. When CS and CS-CEL nanocomposite were used in the clarification of sugarcane (MJ), the findings demonstrated an improvement in color removal of up to 8.7% using CS and 18.1% using CS-CEL nanocomposite compared to currently phosphotation clarification process. Also, Turbidity decreased using CS-CEL nanocomposite compared to the traditional phosphotation clarification process. Overall …

Research Authors
Ahmed S. Ibrahim, Ahmed N. Gad, Hemat M. Dardeer, Abdel-Aal M. Gaber
Research Date
Research Department
Research Journal
Food Chemistry
Research Year
2023