High translucent of polymeric membrane reinforced by nanocellulose from oil palm empty fruit bunches

Abstract

Abstract Polymeric membranes have gained high interest since they provide great potential to be used as functional products in energy, electronics and remediation applications. In this study, cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibrils (TOCNs) extracted from oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) cross-linked with poly(methyl vinyl ether co-maleic acid)/PMVEMA and poly(ethylene glycol)/(PEG) by insitu polymerization to produce polymeric membranes. Characterization of resultant polymeric membranes was employed by microscopic observation to evaluate membrane morphology. UV-Vis analysis and mechanical testing were conducted to observe the effect of nanocellulose addition towards membrane translucent and mechanical properties. Results indicated that the presence of nanocellulose improved membrane translucent and mechanical properties by only 5 weight (wt)% of addition. CNCs addition has higher translucent improvement on polymeric membrane compared to TOCNs. However, TOCNs addition has higher improvement in mechanical properties than CNCs. Polymeric membrane reinforced by nanocellulose has potential utilization for thin film-based composite.