Sharifah Nabihah Syed Jaafar

Effect of acid hydrolysis on regenerated kenaf core membrane produced using aqueous alkaline-urea systems.

Bleached kenaf core pulps (BKC) were hydrolyzed in H2SO4 (0.5M) at different time (0min to 90min) at room temperature. After the hydrolysis process, the viscosity average molecular weight (Mŋ) for BKC sample has reduced from 14.5×10(4) to 2.55×10(4). The hydrolyzed BKC was then dissolved in NaOH:urea:water and in LiOH:urea:water mixed solvent at the ratio of 7:12:81 and 4.6:15:80.4, respectively. The increased in hydrolysis time has decreased Mŋ of cellulose leading to easy dissolution process. Higher porosity and transparency with lower crystallinity index (CrI) of regenerated membrane produced can be achieved as the Mŋ reduced. The properties of membrane were observed through FESEM, UV-vis spectrophotometer and XRD. This study has proven that acid hydrolysis has reduced the Mŋ of cellulose, thus, enhanced the properties of regenerated membrane produced with assisted by alkaline/urea system.

Enhanced mechanical properties of hydrothermal carbamated cellulose nanocomposite film reinforced with graphene oxide

Cellulose carbamate (CC) was synthesized via hydrothermal process and mixed with graphene oxide (GO) to form a homogeneous cellulose matrix nanocomposite films. The properties of CC/GO nanocomposite films fabricated using simple solution-mixing method with different GO loadings were studied. Transmission electron microscope analysis showed the exfoliation of self-synthesized GO nanosheets within the CC matrix. X-ray diffraction results confirmed the crystalline structure of CC/GO films as the CC/GO mass ratio increased from 100/0 to 100/4. The mechanical properties of CC/GO film were significantly improved as compared to neat CC film. From thermogravimetric analysis result, the introduction of GO enhanced the thermal stability and carbon yields. The 3D homogeneous porous structures of the CC/GO films were observed under Field emission scanning electron microscope. These improvements in nanocomposite film properties could be confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy due to the strong and good interactions between CC and GO.

Methanolysis on extracted sapfrom inner and outer part of core oil palm trunk using phosphomolybdic acid and aluminium sulphate

Concentration of extracted free sugar in the oil palm trunk from inner and outer part was analysed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The highest sugar concentration was glucose and total sugar content was higher in the inner part than the outer part. The methanolysis reaction of extracted sapfrom inner and outer part of core oil palm trunk using phosphomolybdic acid and aluminium sulphate was done using methanol as solvent, 2.5 h and at 160°C. In this reaction, conversion of total sugar produced high concentrations of pentanoic acid, 4-oxo-, methyl ester and low 5-hydroxymethylfurfural using aluminium sulphate as catalyst.

Enhanced Thermal Stability of Esterified Lignin in Different Solvent Mediums

In this study, soda alkali lignin from oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB-AL) and kenaf core (KC-AL) are esterified with maleic anhydride under two different conditions, namely i) pyridine at temperature of 120°C for 3h and ii) aqueous alkaline solution at room temperature for 4h. As a result, the weight percentage gain (WPG) of the esterified EFB-AL (EFB-EL) and esterified KC-AL (KC-EL) in pyridine demonstrated a higher compared to aqueous alkaline solution. The FT-IR results of EFB-EL and KC-EL in both solvents exhibited some changes at the carbonyl and hydroxyl groups. Furthermore, the esterification process induced the carboxylic peak to appear in both alkali lignin samples. The outcome is confirmed by conducting H-NMR analysis, which demonstrated ester and carboxylic acid peaks within the spectral analysis. Finally, the TGA results showed both EFB-EL and KC-EL that are exposed to aqueous alkaline actually possessed better thermal stability and higher activation energy (Ea) compared to the esterified samples in pyridine.

Chemically crosslinked hydrogel and its driving force towards superabsorbent behaviour

Dissolved oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) cellulose in NaOH/urea solvent was mixed with sodium carboxymethylcellulose (NaCMC) to form a green regenerated superabsorbent hydrogel. The effect of concentration of epichlorohydrin (ECH) as the crosslinker on the formation, physical, and chemical properties of hydrogel was studied. Rapid formation and higher gel content of hydrogel were observed at 10% concentration of ECH. The superabsorbent hydrogel was successfully fabricated in this study with the swelling ability >100,000%. Hydrogel with higher concentration of ECH showed opposite trend by having higher superabsorbent property than that of lower concentration. The covalent bond of COC was observed with Attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared (ATR-FT-IR) spectroscopy to confirm the occurrence of crosslinking. The physical and chemical properties of hydrogel were affected by swelling phenomenon. Hydrogel with higher degree of swelling exhibited lower moisture retention and higher transparency. Moreover, the weight of the superabsorbent hydrogel increased with the decrement of pH value of external media (distilled water). This study provided substantial information on the effect of different percentage of ECH as crosslinker on hydrogel basic properties. Furthermore, this study affords correlation of many essential driving forces that affected hydrogel superabsorbent property.

Bio-phenolic resin from oil palm empty fruit bunches

Utilization of oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB) in the production of bio-phenolic resin is an alternative way to reduce the dependency of petroleum-based phenol. In this study, resol type bio-phenolic resin (BPR) was synthesized from EFB fibers using sulfuric acid as the catalyst to produce liquefied empty fruit bunches (LEFB) followed by resinification reaction with formaldehyde in alkaline condition. The SEM image of LEFB residue showed separation of fiber bundles into individual fibers. This indicate that lignin was destroyed during the liquefaction process. The increased of formaldehyde/LEFB molar ratio has resulted an increase of viscosity, solid content and pH of the resin. The obtained FTIR spectra confirmed that functional groups of BPR resins was almost similar with commercial resin.

Removal of oil palm trunk lignin in ammonium hydroxide pretreatment

Alkaline pretreatment using ammonium hydroxide, NH4OH serves as one of a process to remove lignin from lignocellulosic biomass such as oil palm trunk fiber. In this study, the effect of NH4OH pretreatment on removal of oil palm trunk lignin was investigated. The oil palm trunk fiber was dissolved in NH4OH with different concentrations (6, 8 and 10 %), different duration (3, 5 and 7 h) and temperatures (60, 80 and 100 °C). The samples were analyzed by using UV-Vis to estimate the concentration of extracted lignin. The result indicates that the optimum conditions to gain maximum extracted lignin were 8% NH4OH, 100 °C and 5 h with concentration of 64 mgL-1 while the lowest was at 6% NH4OH, 100 °C and 5 h with concentration of 62.5 mgL−1.Alkaline pretreatment using ammonium hydroxide, NH4OH serves as one of a process to remove lignin from lignocellulosic biomass such as oil palm trunk fiber. In this study, the effect of NH4OH pretreatment on removal of oil palm trunk lignin was investigated. The oil palm trunk fiber was dissolved in NH4OH with different concentrations (6, 8 and 10 %), different duration (3, 5 and 7 h) and temperatures (60, 80 and 100 °C). The samples were analyzed by using UV-Vis to estimate the concentration of extracted lignin. The result indicates that the optimum conditions to gain maximum extracted lignin were 8% NH4OH, 100 °C and 5 h with concentration of 64 mgL-1 while the lowest was at 6% NH4OH, 100 °C and 5 h with concentration of 62.5 mgL−1.

Effect of zeolite catalyst on sugar dehydration for 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural synthesis

The effectiveness in the dehydration of sugars into 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural is related to the catalyst existence. A comprehensive synthesis of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural from fructose, glucose and sucrose (3.73 mmol) with and without addition zeolite catalyst was performed in this study. The reactions were carried out in water-methanol solvent system for 3 hours reaction time at 180°C temperature. The catalytic results from HPLC showed that the reaction with zeolite increases the yield of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural with 51.72 %, 34.01% and 50.10% for fructose, glucose and sucrose respectively. The study suggests that zeolites promote the isomerization of glucose into fructose to occur and simultaneously catalyze the dehydration of fructose into 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural. Only slight changes on FT-IR spectra of use zeolite after the reaction was observed. Thus suggest that zeolite was a potential catalyst for catalytic reaction for the conversion of sugar into 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural.

Thickness effect of kenaf cellulose membrane on its morphological, physical and tensile properties

Dissolution of kenaf core cellulose was undergone in NaOH/Urea solvent and the cellulose solution was casted with three different thicknesses (0.04 mm, 0.06 mm and 0.07 mm) followed by coagulation in 5 % of H2SO4 to form regenerated cellulose membrane. The XRD results showed that the crystallinity index (CrI) of kenaf core cellulose membrane decreased after been regenerated into cellulose II. The surface morphology showed that the pores of the membrane became smaller as the thickness of cellulose membrane increased. The transparency tests demonstrated the thinner samples (0.04 mm) gave higher light transmittance than the thickest samples (0.07 mm). The kenaf core membrane with 0.07 mm thickness possessed highest tensile strength and breaking elongation at σ = 33.48 and e = 8.03 relatively and also exhibited the largest pore size.

Influence of coagulation concentration on properties of regenerated kenaf core membranes produced in NaOH/urea aqueous solution

Cellulose was extracted from kenaf core pulp by a series of bleaching processes and subsequently dissolved using an alkaline NaOH/urea solvent at low temperature. The produced cellulose solution was coagulated with H2SO4 at concentration from 5 to 12 wt% to produce a series of regenerated cellulose (RC) membranes. The surface morphology, structure and physical properties of the membranes were measured with variable pressure scanning electron microscope (VPSEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis spectrophotometer and tensile testing. The results from VPSEM revealed that the pore size of the membranes changed as a function of the concentration of H2SO4 coagulant. RC membranes coagulated with relatively dilute H2SO4 solution exhibited better mechanical properties. Thus, this work provided a promising way to prepare cellulose membranes with different pore sizes and good physical properties.