Other Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Efficiency Of Ionic Liquids In The Dissolution Of Rice Husk, Teck Nam Ang Dr., Li Wan Yoon Ms., Kiat Moon Lee Ms., Gek Cheng Ngoh Dr., Adeline Seak May Chua Dr., Min Gyu Lee Prof.

Teck Nam Ang Dr.

Ionic liquids that dissolve cellulose provide an option to pretreat lignocellulosic biomass. In this study, potential application of three ionic liquids in pretreating rice husk and their abilities in dissolving rice husk cellulose were investigated. The ionic liquids applied were 1-butyl-3- methylimidazolium chloride ([BMIM]Cl), 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([EMIM]OAc), and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium diethyl phosphate ([EMIM]DEP). Dissolution of rice husk was conducted by heating 1.5% (w/v) rice husk-ionic liquid mixture at 100oC for 20 hours. The dissolved cellulose was subsequently regenerated with deionised water. All the ionic liquids were able to dissolve rice husk cellulose to varying extents, with the highest dissolution (36.7%) given …