Rafidah Jalil

Biomaterials Availability: Potential for Bioethanol Production

Over the last decade, there has been increasing research interest in the value of biosourced materials from lignocellulosic biomass. Abundant sources of lignocellulosic biomass such as palm, napier grass, luceana tree, urban waste, municipal solid waste, agricultural waste and other waste have the potential to become a sustainable source of biofuel. In Malaysia, dissolution of cellulose from palm biomass to produce ethanol as future biofuels is very promising since palm residues from palm industry are highly abundant. In addition, cellulose contents in palm wastes or residues are relatively high for instance from empty fruit bunch or palm trunk. An efficient pretreatment is highly required prior to processes which convert the lignocellulosic palm biomass to bioethanol. The kinds of processes needed nowadays are called as green technology based techniques which are environmental friendly. Various solvents have been applied to dissolve cellulose including various types of ionic liquid as well. Previously, other method such as acid hydrolysis pretreatment process cause many drawbacks due to their low rates of hydrolysis and extreme acidic conditions. The dissolution process of the lignocellulosic biomass with ionic liquids is at its better advantage due to better dissolution as compared to by using organic or inorganic solvents. Therefore, at the moment, ionic liquid is becoming more preferable in dissolving the lignocellulosic biomass or any palm residues for instance.

Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquid Dissolution Influence on Crystallinity of Oil Palm Frond, Oil Palm Trunk and Elephant Grass Lignocellulosic Biomass

Ionic liquid (IL) has been shown to affect cellulose crystalline structure in lignocellulosic biomass (LB) during pretreatment. This research was carried out with two different experimental design involving IL to observe the effect of dissolution in IL on: (A) the crystallinity of cellulose and (B) the dissolution efficiency of LB. For experiment A, the types of IL used in this research were 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium Acetate [EMI[A, 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium Chloride [AMI[C, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium Chloride [BMI[C and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium Chloride [EMI[C. The crystallinity degree of LB was investigated before and after pretreatment with IL. The microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was used as the simulated LB (cellulose content) was dissolved in IL and the crystallinity after the dissolution was analyzed. The temperature (70°C, 80°C, 90°C, 99°C) and concentration ratio of IL with volume/volume (v/v: 10%, 25%, 50%) were varied while the dissolution time remained constant. The crystallinity was analyzed by using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The results showed that the dissolution temperature and IL concentration ratio affects the intensity of the FTIR peaks. In experiment B, the dissolution of LB with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium Chloride [BMI[C and 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium Chloride [EMI[C as ILs were investigated. Four types of LB involved were Elaeis guineensis species of Oil Palm Trunk (OPT) and Oil Palm Frond (OPF) and Pennisetum purpureum species (elephant grass) originated from Taiwan and India. From the results obtained, the [BMI[C gave better dissolution to biomass.