LAUSR

Cellulose was isolated from plant material for the first time in 1839 by the French chemist Anselme Payen. In recent years, due to the need in reduce the world’s environmental problems, there has been an increase in studies related to the physical and chemical factors of cellulose. It is important to emphasize that experiments and studies with a cellulose occur individually, because of the variation in the amount of cellulose and the extraction method that differs from plant to plant. In the present study, we determined the optimal conditions for cellulose extraction of jute fiber, using the response surface method. The Box-Behnken Design (BBD) was used statistically evaluate the ratio effects of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), temperature and extraction time in the process used. The analysis of the results showed a significant variable in the linear and quadratic terms of the temperature and also a significant level of interaction in the effect between the variables of temperature and time. Besides this, the BBD used for the analysis of the extraction yield, resulted in a polynomial regression of second order, in complete agreement with experimental results, with R2=0.9627 (p<0.05). The optimal condition was obtained in a ratio of 1.3 at 45 °C for 2 h. Under the best possible conditions, the obtained experimental value is in accordance with the value predicted by the model, thus indicating a model combination and success to optimize the extraction conditions of the jute fiber pulp in the response surface methodology.