Extraction of Nanocrystalline Cellulose from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches Using Sulfuric Acid Hydrolysis Method

OPEFB is a cellulose-rich biomass waste from the palm oil industry that can be further utilized as nanocrystalline cellulose (CNC). One of the methods used for the isolation of crystalline cellulose is acid hydrolysis. Improper hydrolysis process conditions will cause low crystalline yield, crystallinity index, and unsuitable CNC characteristics. This study aimed to determine the influence of temperature, time, and sulfuric acid concentration on the hydrolysis process of OPEFB cellulose, especially on changes in crystalline yield and crystallinity index of CNC. In this study, the hydrolysis process conditions studied were the hydrolysis temperature, hydrolysis time, and sulfuric acid concentration used. The temperature variation used was 30-80°C, hydrolysis time variation was 30-150 minutes, and the sulfuric acid concentration variation was 10-50. The analyses included crystalline cellulose yield, crystallinity index, and FTIR. High temperature in hydrolysis resulted in high crystallinity index but low crystalline cellulose yield. The longer hydrolysis time caused a decrease in the yield and crystallinity index of crystalline cellulose. High concentration of sulfuric acid resulted in low crystalline yield, but high crystallinity index. The highest yield of 93.53 was obtained at a low concentration of 20 at 40°C for 30 minutes. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.