Production of biosurfactant sodium lignosulfonate (NaLS) using elephant grass based lignin (Pennisetum purpureum) and NaHSO3

Abstract

Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) is an animal feed ingredient, especially ruminants with a lignocellulose content of 40.85% and lignin of 21.5% and can be used as a raw material for making biosurfactant sodium lignosulfonate. Biosurfactant is an amphiphilic molecule and has biodegradability. This study aims to obtain data on the effect of NaHSO3 concentration, reaction time, and the ratio of elephant grass: NaHSO3 on the sodium lignosulfonate content, yield, degree of sulfonation, and physico-chemical properties of sodium lignosulfonate obtained. This study consists of 3 treatment factors, namely NaHSO3 concentration, reaction time, and mass ratio of elephant grass : NaHSO3. The results showed that sodium lignosulfonate can be produced from elephant grass using direct sulfonation process. The best treatment combination was 80% concentration and 155 minutes reaction time which produced sodium lignosulfonate content of 20.619 mg/L and 65.83% yield. The physicochemical properties are: density 1.4061 g/mL, degree of sulfonation 57.73%, completely soluble in water, smells a little sulfur, has a brownish yellow color, pH 5, and the results of functional group analysis showed a change in functional groups.