TY - EJOU AU - Jimat, Dzun Noraini AU - Putra, Sharifah Shahira Syed AU - Jamal, Parveen AU - Nawawi, Wan Mohd Fazli Wan AU - Jami, Mohammed Saedi TI - Effect of Y-Methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS) and Tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) Towards Preparation of Oil Absorbent Foams from Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) Reinforced with Microfibrillated Cellulose (MFC) T2 - Journal of Renewable Materials PY - 2020 VL - 8 IS - 7 SN - 2164-6341 AB - Increasing usage of foams in various industry sectors had causing serious disposal problems once it reaches the end of its life-cycle. Herein, PVA-MFC foam was prepared by freeze-drying using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) as a reinforced material from sugarcane bagasse (SCB). In this study, the PVA-MFC foam was chemically silylated with Y-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS) and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS). The wetting ability and mechanical strength of the silylated 2,20PVA-MFC foam was greatly enhanced compared with unmodified 2,20PVA-MFC foam. The silane chemicals (MPS and TEOS) had been confirmed grafted on 2,20PVA-MFC foam due to the presence of Si-C and Si-O-C stretching vibration as showed in Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra and cloud-like coating of porous pore was observed in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. The silylated 2,20PVA-MFC foam (MPS and TEOS) exhibited a series of desirable properties such as lower swelling ratio and high absorption capacity of solvents and oils but had low thermal stability in thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis. The characterization of 2,20PVA-MFC foam using TEOS was further investigated. A significant difference in morphology was clearly observed between the unmodified and silylated 2,20PVA-MFC-TEOS foam through field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images. The X-ray photoelectron (XPS) analysis of silylated 2,20PVA-MFC-TEOS foam confirmed the presence of C, O and trace amount of Si elements. These synthesized 2,20PVA-MFC foam could be a promising material for broad range of polymer foam applications. KW - Polyvinyl alcohol foam; microfibrillated cellulose; sugarcane bagasse; Y-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane; tetraethoxysilane and oil absorbent DO - 10.32604/jrm.2020.010357