Micro-Fibrillated Cellulose Fabrication from Empty Fruit Bunches of Oil Palm

Abstract

Micro-fibrillated celluloses (MFCs) are made from oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB). EFB is processed through several stages of the process, including washing, alkalization, and bleaching to remove impurities, lignin, and hemicellulose. Each treatment stage was characterized by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis. Morphological analysis was characterized using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The process results show that MFC has an average length and thickness of 450 and 80 microns for coarse fibers respectively, averaging 50 and 5 microns for fine fibers, respectively. Fibrillation fibers appear on the surface of fibers which are treated using alkalization and bleaching processes. The TGA results showed a decrease in weight occurred at a temperature of 40 to 109 °C for the first stage of the heating process and at a temperature of 247 to 382 °C for the second stage. The decrease in fiber weight is caused by evaporation of water content and degradation of cellulose compounds at each stage. The glass transition temperature of MFC was obtained at 236 °C. The thermal stability of cellulose from fibers treated using alkalization and bleaching processes proved the formation of cellulose crystals. Removal of lignin and hemicellulose is shown by the absorption of O-H and C-C bonds in FTIR spectroscopy. From these results, it is stated that micro-fibrillation cellulose is formed well through a series of processes given.