Modification of cellulose extracted from waste newspaper

The alpha-cellulose was extracted from waste newspaper, and it was esterified by maleic anhydride. The effect of reaction time, temperature, ratio of maleic anhydride to alpha-cellulose, dosage of catalyst on the degree of esterification were studied, respectively. The weight percent gain and degree of substitution reached 40.30% and 0.6657, respectively, under the following reaction conditions: reaction time of 2.5 h, reaction temperature of 150 degrees C, ratio of MA to alpha-cellulose of 1.2 and dosage of catalyst of 10%. The structure and properties of the samples were characterized by FTIR and X-ray diffraction.