Hydrolysis Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) Using Green Solvent

Empty fruit bunch (EFB) contained high amount of cellulose and can be further utilized for nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) production. Increasing awareness on environment has attracted attention on green solvent compared to the usage of conventional strong acid in nanocellulose isolation. In this study, NCC has been isolated from raw EFB using environmental friendly solvent, natural deep eutectic solvent (NADES). The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of different types of NADES on NCC isolation. Three different types of NADES based on three different organic acids (citric acid, malic acid and lactic acid) have been used in this study. The solubility of NCC in these NADES was measured while their physical characterization was determined using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). From the results, EFB dissolution in NADES made up of citric acid shows higher solubility with a value of 2.74%. FTIR spectra shows similar spectra between treated EFB and NCC isolated using NADES. From FESEM micrograph, citric acid based NADES is able to produce NCC in the range of 25 to 37 nm. Based on the results, NCC has been successfully isolated using NADES and further improvement can be applied to enhance its production. (paper)