Cellulose obtained from algae residues (algae-Cell) from a Mexican agar industry with a basic treatment was extracted in a continuous solid-liquid reaction/extraction system. This algae-Cell showed particular physicochemical characteristics (crystallinity, molecular weights and polidispersity) and yield of 74% [calculated on the basis of glucose amount (58.1%) in the residues].1 In this work, algae-Cell was used mixed with polystyrene (PS) to evaluate its capacity to produce honeycomb porous films using the breath figure technique. Two different ways to mix the components was considered. In the first one, PS was added to a cellulose suspension (CS2 or THF) until a final concentration of 10 mg/mL. The second way consisted in the incorporation of algae-Cell during styrene polymerization process. The deposits were performed in glass surfaces at 95% relative humidity and the membranes were characterized with optical microscopy, SEM, fluorescence microscopy and contact angle measurements. A thermo stability study of the films was also performed. The films obtained with the first PS-cellulose mixture had areas with hexagonal arrays of pores and different levels of structure. On the other side, films from the second way showed a highly structured hexagonal array. According to fluorescence microscopy images of the films, cellulose was scattered without any preferential ordering for either the surface or the interior of the pores. Compared to non-porous films, an increase in the contact angle was observed for all the porous films. 1. Lopez-Simeon, R.; Campos-Teran, J; Beltran, H. I.; Hernandez-Guerrero, M. Free-lignin cellulose obtained from agar industry residues using a continuous and minimal solvent reaction/extraction methodology. RSC Advances, 2012. DOI: 10.1039/c2ra22185c

Honeycomb porous films obtained with algae residue cellulose-polystyrene mixtures by breath figure technique

251st National Meeting (2016)

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