Thermal properties of biopolyol from oil palm fruit fibre (OPFF) using solvolysis liquefaction technique

Liquefaction is known to be an effective method for converting biomass into a biopolyol. The biomass liquefaction of oil palm fruit waste (PFW) in the presence of liquefaction solvent/polyhydric alcohol (PA): polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG400) using sulfuric acid as catalyst was studied. For all experiments, the liquefaction was conducted at 150°C and atmospheric pressure. The mass ratio of OPFW to liquefaction solvents used in all the experiments was, 1/3. Thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) were used to analyze their biopolyol and residue behaviors. It was found that thermal stability of oil palm mesocarp fibre (PM), oil palm shell (PS) and oil palm kernel (PK) fibre exhibited the first degradation of hard segment at (232, 104, 230°C) and the second degradation of soft segment at (314, 226, 412°C) as compared to PM, PS and PK residue which (229, 102, 227°C) of hard segment and (310, 219, 299°C) of segment, respectively. This behavior of thermal degradation of the hard segment and soft segment of biopolyol was changes after undergo solvolysis liquefaction process. The result analysis showed that the resulting biopolyol and its residue was suitable monomer for polyurethane (PU) synthesis for the production of PU foams. (paper)