Effect of Cellulose Nanocrystals Extracted from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch as Green Admixture for Mortar

Dianah Mazlan,Mohd Fadhil Md Din,Chiharu Tokoro,Izni Syahrizal Ibrahim,Daisuke Komori,Santhana Krishnan,Nur Hafizah Abd Khalid,Hideki Takahashi

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-63575-7

Dianah Mazlan, Mohd Fadhil Md Din + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-63575-7

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Abstract

This paper aims to examine the effect of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) derived from oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber (EFB) incorporating cement mortar on its structural performances. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were extracted from α-cellulose extracted from EFB using an acid hydrolysis process with a concentration of acid used was 64% w/v under the temperature of 45 °C for 60 minutes. The Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were mixed into the cement mortar ranging from 0 to 0.8% w/w and its mechanical properties were determined. The developed CNCs mortar was characterized for their compressive and flexural properties as well as microstructure. The influence of CNCs concentration, curing method, dispersion of CNCs on mortar’s mechanical performance was thoroughly examined to find out the optimum condition. Overall results revealed that an addition of 0.4% cellulose nanocrystals has shown to increase the compressive and flexural strength to 46% and 20%, respectively cured under the wrapping method. The hydration of cementitious composites also improved significantly with the addition of CNCs by the formation of highly crystalline of portlandite observed under the XRD test. This present work demonstrates the importance of palm oil empty fruit bunch waste as a sustainable resource of cellulose nanocrystals admixture to achieve structural strength of cement mortar and promotes green technologies in construction.

Highlights

IntroductionWww.nature.com/scientificreports modification of plant fibers using various chemical treatments (alkali, silane, ozone, etc.) and physical treatment (plasma, UV radiation, corona, etc.)[10,11,12]
Www.nature.com/scientificreports modification of plant fibers using various chemical treatments and physical treatment[10,11,12]
The wrapping method showed the highest improvement in strength after 0.2% of Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were added into the mortar matrix, achieving a compressive strength of 49 MPa at the age of 28 days with a 48% increment compared to the control mortar

Summary

Introduction

Www.nature.com/scientificreports modification of plant fibers using various chemical treatments (alkali, silane, ozone, etc.) and physical treatment (plasma, UV radiation, corona, etc.)[10,11,12] Another approach to improve the properties of natural fibers is through a top-down approach by deconstructing the structure of the plant itself into nano or microfibrous materials such as nanocrystalline cellulose (CNCs) and microcrystalline cellulose (MCC)[13]. Research on CNCs based cementitious composites extracted from palm oil fruit bunches are very rare in the existing literature. This present study intends to report the effect of CNCs suspension on the mechanical properties of mortar via different: i) curing environment, ii) percentage of CNCs added and iii) morphological observation. A series of experiments were conducted to examine the effect of different curing methods (water, lime and wrapping curing) to find the best method of curing, as well as the microstructural and mechanical properties of the cement composites after adding CNCs

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