Nanofibers from oil palm trunk (OPT): Preparation & chemical analysis

Abstract

Oil palm trunk (OPT) is one type of agricultural waste material from palm oil industries. The material has big potentials in biocomposite industries. Nanocellulose was extracted from OPT fibers by a chemi-mechanical technique. Chemical characterization of OPT nanofibers confirmed that cellulose content was increased after alkali and acid treatment. FTIR result demonstrated that chemical treatment also led to partial removal of hemicelluloses and lignin from the structure of the fibers. The structure of the cellulose was investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM).