Isolation and Characterisation of Cellulose Nanofibre and Lignin from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches.

Saharman Gea,Yurika Almanda Perangin-Angin,Amir Hamzah Siregar,Emma Zaidar,Mahyuni Harahap,Denny Pratama Indrawan

doi:10.3390/ma13102290

Saharman Gea, Yurika Almanda Perangin-Angin + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13102290

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Journal: Materials	Publication Date: May 15, 2020
Citations: 25	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of North Sumatra

Abstract

A study on isolation and characterisation of cellulose nanofibre (CNF) and lignin was conducted to expand the application of CNF and lignin from oil palm biomass. CNF was extracted by steam explosion and the by-product was precipitated to obtain lignin by using the soda-pulping method. The concentrations of NaOH used for CNF by-product precipitation were 2%, 4%, and 6%. The morphology of CNF and lignin was characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The nanofibre of CNF with dimension between 50 nm and 100 nm was investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The functional group was observed using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, showing that CNF had the structure of cellulose-I. In addition, the chemical structures of isolated and commercial lignin were analysed using 1H-NMR spectrometry. CNF had a 72% crystallinity index characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), while lignin showed an amorphous form. The characterisation of isolated lignin was compared with commercial lignin. The two lignins had similar particle size distribution from 1 to 100 μm. From UV-visible analysis, the lignin had aromatic rings/non-conjugated phenolic groups. The morphology of isolated lignin was rough and flaky. Commercial lignin was in powder form with near-spherical morphology. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of CNF showed 30% of residue at 600 °C. The results showed a simple method to isolate CNF and lignin from oil palm empty fruit bunches.

Highlights

The synthesis of fine chemicals and bio-based functional materials has attracted huge attention and created significant public value with the increasing of environmental and ecological concerns due to the use of petroleum-based chemicals and products [1]
This is probably due to hemicellulose, lignin, and pectin removal during chemical treatment
Thermal properties demonstrated that Cellulose nanofibre (CNF) has higher thermal stability than lignin

Summary

Introduction

The synthesis of fine chemicals and bio-based functional materials has attracted huge attention and created significant public value with the increasing of environmental and ecological concerns due to the use of petroleum-based chemicals and products [1]. Cellulose nanofibre (CNF) is extracted from cellulose (the most abundant natural polymer in the world). It has desirable properties such as low density, non-toxicity, and biodegradability. CNF has a Young’s modulus between 20 and 50 GPa with surface areas of hundreds of square meters per gram [3]. These properties cause the biopolymer to have many new promising properties and applications [4,5]. Scientists have started to produce innovative materials from CNF for novel and emerging applications to tackle environmental problems originating from an abundance of renewable biomass. Several studies have reported the isolation of CNF from biomass, such as CNF from bagasse using acid and ball milling method [6], from tomato peels using acidified sodium chloride [7], and from

Methods

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Conclusion