BACKGROUND: Cellulose acetate membranes are frequently used for pressure‐driven membrane processes. The aim of this work was to prepare cellulose acetate membranes from nata‐de‐coco using coconut water as starting material. The use of this lignin‐free material will certainly minimize the use of chemicals usually needed in the traditional pulps and substitute for the use of wood, which helps prevent global warming and preserves nature as well.RESULTS: Coconut water was fermented by Acetobacter xylinum for 6 days to produce nata‐de‐coco, which was then acetylated to produce cellulose diacetate with an acetyl content of 39.6%. Fourier transform infrared analysis showed characteristic peaks for the acetyl group at 1748 and 1236 cm−1. The resulting membranes made from the hydrolysis product showed a water flux of 210.5 L m−2 h−1 under an applied pressure of 2 kg cm−2 while the rejection coefficients of dextran T‐500 and T‐2000 solutions were 78 and 93.7%, respectively.CONCLUSION: Coconut water has a potential to be used in the fabrication of membranes by converting it to nata‐de‐coco and then to cellulose diacetate which gives an added value to its original nature. It is also highly competitive compared to the traditional pulps, by which acetylation decreases the degree of crystallinity of nata‐de‐coco resulting in higher membrane permeability. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry

Fuel cells are being developed to overcome the global energy crisis. The objective of this research is to prepare an environmental‐friendly and cheap material as the polymer electrolyte membrane. Coconut water was fermented by Acetobacter xylinum to produce nata‐de‐coco and the phosphorylation was carried out by microwave‐assisted reaction. The resulting membranes are characterized by ion exchange capacity, contact angle, proton conductivity, swelling index, methanol permeability, mechanical properties measurement and morphological analysis. At the optimum phosphorylation condition using 17.35 mmol of phosphoric acid, membrane showed a proton conductivity of 1.2 × 10−2 S/cm and a methanol permeability of 2.3 × 10−6 cm2/s. The tensile strength of the produced membranes increases significantly and the arrangement of the cellulosic fibers are kept well‐aligned. It is concluded that a green and sustainable natural resources can be used for preparing electrolyte membrane. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013

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Platinum (Pt) nanoparticles have been synthesized from a precursor solution of potassium tetrachloroplatinate (K2PtCl4) using a matrix of bacterial cellulose (BC). The formation of Pt nanoparticles occurs at the surface and the inside of the BC membrane by reducing the precursor solution with a hydrogen gas reductant. The Pt nanoparticles obtained from the variations of precursor concentration, between 3 mM and 30 mM, and the formation of Pt nanoparticles have been studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and thermogravimetry analysis (TGA). Based on X-ray diffraction patterns, Pt particles have sizes between 6.3 nm and 9.3 nm, and the Pt particle size increases with an increase in precursor concentration. The morphology of the Pt nanoparticles was observed by SEM-EDS and the content of Pt particles inside the membrane is higher than that on the surface of BC membranes. This analysis corresponds to the TGA analysis, but the TGA analysis is more representative in how it describes the content of Pt particles in the BC membrane.

This study aims to study the conformation, the hydrogen bond network, and the stabilities of all the possible intermolecular interactions in phosphorylated nata de coco membrane with water