The potential of oil palm empty fruit bunches from Blitar Regency Indonesia as a filling material for NPK slow-release fertilizer

Abstract

Abstract There is a clear gap between the mechanism of slow-release fertilizer (SRF) to promote plant growth and the prominent role of nanocomposites as filler materials for SRF synthesis. However, the production source of oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) is considered to influence its characteristics as a filler in new materials. This research aims to review the characteristics of OPEFB from Blitar Regency, East Java Province, Indonesia as a filling material for NPK-SRF fertilizer. The characteristics of OPEFB consist of analysis of nutritional content using proximate, nutritional content using Van Soest, morphology and topography using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), crystal phase using X-ray diffraction (XRD), and chemical compound composition using Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The identification results show that OPEFB has the potential to be used as a filler in NPK-SRF production. This can be seen from the high cellulose content (41.7%), with quite similar crystallinity index as native OPEFB fibers. The morphology of OPEFB shows a porous structure with a not uniform pore distribution, pore channel structure, and a not-quite-smooth pore surface. However, slight modifications to the cellulose from OPEFB need to be made, such as purifying it into a single nano-sized cellulose.