Interfacial behaviour of benzoylated cellulose of different wettability from melon and moringa pod waste

This study presents the interfacial behaviour of benzoylated cellulose of different wettability from melon and moringa pods waste using Pickering emulsions systems. The benzoylated cellulose was prepared in an aqueous alkaline medium using benzoyl chloride as a modifying agent and characterized by X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The X-ray diffraction showed that crystallinity of cellulose from moringa and melon are 67.47 and 70.20%, respectively. The functionalized derivatives are thermally stable than the native counterpart. The SEM revealed that isolated cellulose suffered surface degradation upon functionalization as a result of the repeated collision between reactants. The wetting properties of the cellulose can be controlled by using different quantities of modifying agents, and the emulsions stability depend on the wettability of the emulsifiers. The higher stability recorded for the emulsions stabilized by benzoylated cellulose from moringa pod waste revealed that cellulose wettability depends on the sources.