Utilisation of rice husk waste as catalyst precursor to convert polymer waste into 2-Chloroethyl Benzoate

Rice is one of the most consumed foods especially in Asia. In Malaysia, rice husk has been produced enormously every year. In this study, rice husk waste generates carbon/silica composite and was used as catalyst. Polyethylene glycol 400 was used in textile and cosmetic industries. In the reaction, waste from this polymer was used as substrate. Carbonisation and sulfonation processes were carried out to turn the rice husk into solid acid catalyst. Carbonisation was performed to convert the rice husk into carbon/silica composite. C/Si02 was converted into sulfonated carbon/silica (SO3H-C/Si02) through sulfonation process. Different carbonisation temperatures; 300°C, 350°C, 400°C and 450°C were applied to study the effect of the temperature on the physicochemical properties of the carbon/silica composite produced. Physicochemical properties of SO3H-C/Si02 were determined and detailed by several characterisation techniques such as X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetry Analysis (TGA), and Fourier Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR). As demonstrated by XRD data, all samples were amorphous. As carbonisation temperature increased, the C/Si02 ratio also increased, as verified by TGA. From FTIR result, the absorbance of functional groups such as COOH, S=0 and C=C were decrease. Also verified by FTIR, as carbonisation temperature increased, the absorbance of SO3H-C/Si02 increased. The best catalyst in the synthesis of polyethylene glycol with benzoyl chloride was SO3H-C/SiO2-450°C with 93% conversion and 10% yields of desired product. From this study, it is proven that it can help to reduce agriculture waste and polymer waste altogether reduce the pollution problems.