The palm oil industry has been continuing to help in mitigating poverty and drive socioeconomic g... more The palm oil industry has been continuing to help in mitigating poverty and drive socioeconomic growth through job opportunities and infrastructure development in the suburbs. However, as the industry expands rapidly, production goes hand in hand with waste generation. With current utilization by mills, a large quantity of oil palm biomass is left underutilized. Existing practices allow only a proportion of biomass to be used as mulching agents in plantations and fuel boilers, while trunks and fronds are left to decompose for carbon cycling. A lot of work has been done on bio-product development using oil palm biomass, including biochar, activated carbon, bio-oil, compost, nanocellulose, biosugar, bioelectricity, biohythane, bioplastic, and bioenergy. This review puts together the latest pieces of evidence of technological progress in the valorization of oil palm biomass for value-added use. Overall, it was demonstrated that oil palm biomass can be converted into highly valuable feedstock via several pretreatment routes. Moreover, several challenges were identified and urgently need to be improved. This review will give a glimpse of how effective oil palm biomass is as the main feedstock for these high value-added bioproducts. Environmental signicance Oil palm is now one of the major economic crops in a large number of countries, which triggered the expansion of the plantation area around the world. In Malaysia, this industry annually generates about 80 million tons of oil palm biomass. This creates a serious problem of biomass waste overload to the country. The biomass generated has attracted great interest from researchers. This was due to the abundance of this valuable material which can be converted into valueadded materials such as bioelectricity, biofuels, biohydrogen, bioplastics, biosugars, and nanocellulose. This review will give a glimpse of how effective this biomass is as the main feedstock for these high value-added bioproducts. This article discusses the feasibility of biomass conversion technologies, including the detailed process involved in each bioproduct development, which wasn't comprehensively highlighted in recent years.
In this study, cellulose nanofiber (CNF) was produced from oil palm biomass (OPB) by using a wet ... more In this study, cellulose nanofiber (CNF) was produced from oil palm biomass (OPB) by using a wet disk mill (WDM). It was exhibited that the produced CNF had diameter in the range of 10-30 nm. When blended with low density polyethylene (LDPE) at 3 wt% CNF, the biocomposites resulted in an increment in tensile strength and flexural strength by 55% and 195% as compared to neat LDPE. Despite of the CNF ability to improve mechanical properties of the biocomposites, the CNF production suffers in term of high energy requirement due to the intense mechanical processing. Herewith, it is suggested that a sustainable production of CNF from OPB can be achieved by coupling the process with palm oil processing which is currently generating excess steam energy equivalent to 3.64 GW h/y, to create an overall palm oil mill biorefinery which includes material production.
Cellulose nanofiber (CNF) is an emerging nanomaterial which has gained attention from researchers... more Cellulose nanofiber (CNF) is an emerging nanomaterial which has gained attention from researchers and industries due to its versatility and potential applications in various fields. As a tropical country, Malaysia has various plant resources which can be used for CNF production. In this chapter, the potential of CNF production from three different tropical plant resources is evaluated: Napier grass, Kenaf core, and Eucalyptus cellulose pulp. Napier grass and Kenaf core were pretreated for cellulose extraction, while Eucalyptus pulp (obtained from a pulp and paper company in Thailand) was used as is. The pretreatment of Napier grass and Kenaf core was conducted using 50 wt% totally chlorine-free (TCF) solvent and 6 wt% KOH with the aim of removing lignin and hemicellulose, respectively. Cellulose samples obtained from treated Napier grass and Kenaf core and untreated Eucalyptus pulp were then soaked in distilled water for 3 days prior to nanofibrillation by a wet disk mill (WDM). Fou...
In this study, three types of oil palm biomass (OPB) namely, oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF), oil ... more In this study, three types of oil palm biomass (OPB) namely, oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF), oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) and oil palm frond (OPF), were studied and compared as the alternative fillers in the biocomposite reinforced polypropylene (PP). The fibers were treated using the optimal condition of superheated steam treatment obtained from previous study. The OPB/PP biocomposites at weight ratio of 30:70 were fabricated by melt blending technique and hot pressed moulding. Results showed that the tensile and flexural properties of optimized-SHS-treated OPB/PP biocomposites were improved by 9 – 30% and 9 – 12%, respectively compared to the untreated OPB/PP biocomposites. The same observation was recorded for thermal stability. Improved surface morphology as shown by the tensile fracture surface indicates better interfacial adhesion between SHStreated OPB fibers with PP matrix during blending. Overall results showed that OPF/ PP biocomposites had better properties compared...
The use of biodegradable polymers for food packaging material is favorable due to its ability to ... more The use of biodegradable polymers for food packaging material is favorable due to its ability to degrade after use. Nevertheless, the real application of the polymers is still limited due to its poor physical properties. Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the biodegradable polymers commonly used for packaging. Recently, there have been reports on the use of nanocellulose as filler in polylactic acid (PLA) for improving the mechanical properties of PLA; however, it has limitation in which non-uniform dispersion of nanocellulose is formed within the polymer during melt-blending. Uniform dispersion can be obtained through solvent casting method; nevertheless, it is not industrially applicable. In this study, a one-pot process was developed where nanofibrillation of cellulose and subsequently melt-blending of the nanocellulose with PLA were conducted in a twin-screw extruder. Results showed that nanocomposite reinforced with 3 and 5 wt% cellulose nanofiber (CNF) exhibited higher tensile strength and Young’s modulus compared to neat PLA. Crystallinity of the polymer increased by 43% with the addition of 5 wt% CNF. Meanwhile, wettability of the polymer was also improved as seen by the reduction in contact angle value. Results obtained exhibited the potential of the composite films to be used in packaging material, especially for high respiration products.
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering
Oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) is rich in cellulose and suitable to be used as raw material for t... more Oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) is rich in cellulose and suitable to be used as raw material for the production of cellulose nanofiber (CNF) and biocomposite. Recently, there have been reports on the use of CNF as filler in polypropylene (PP) for improving the mechanical properties of PP, however the process requires two steps: (i) nanofibrillation for CNF production and (ii) biocomposite compounding. In this study, a one-pot process was developed whereby nanofibrillation of cellulose and subsequently melt-blending of the CNF with PP were conducted at once, in a twin-screw extruder. Morphological analysis of the biocomposites by SEM showed that the cellulose was successfully fibrillated into CNF and compounded homogeneously with PP. The highest tensile strength, Young's modulus, flexural strength, and flexural modulus recorded were 34.9 ± 0.5 MPa, 12.1 ± 0.1 GPa, 59.3 ± 1.3 MPa, and 2.3 ± 0.05 GPa, respectively when 3 % CNF was used in the biocomposite. The reinforcement of CNF-OPMF in PP improved the mechanical properties of the biocomposite by 33.4 % compared to neat PP. It is interesting to note that the addition of CNF managed to improve the crystallinity of the biocomposite (54.6 %) compared to neat PP (50.1 %), despite of the lower crystallinity of CNF compared to PP. This observation can be attributed to the high density of covalent bonds per cross-sectional area and the large number of hydrogen bonding sites. Additionally, the observation can be explained by the role of CNF in composite which acted as nucleation agent, which eventually increased the crystallinity of the biocomposite.
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering
View the article online for updates and enhancements. Related content Cellulose nanofiber isolati... more View the article online for updates and enhancements. Related content Cellulose nanofiber isolation from palm oil Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) through strong acid hydrolysis Dwi Setyaningsih, Uju, Neli Muna et al.-Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Polylactic acid (PLA), a potential alternative material for single use plastics, generally portra... more Polylactic acid (PLA), a potential alternative material for single use plastics, generally portrays a slow crystallization rate during melt-processing. The use of a nanomaterial such as cellulose nanofibers (CNF) may affect the crystallization rate by acting as a nucleating agent. CNF at a certain wt.% has been evidenced as a good reinforcement material for PLA; nevertheless, there is a lack of information on the correlation between the amount of CNF in PLA that promotes its functionality as reinforcement material, and its effect on PLA nucleation for improving the crystallization rate. This work investigated the nucleation effect of PLA incorporated with CNF at different fiber loading (1–6 wt.%) through an isothermal and non-isothermal crystallization kinetics study using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis. Mechanical properties of the PLA/CNF nanocomposites were also investigated. PLA/CNF3 exhibited the highest crystallization onset temperature and enthalpy among all...
The utilization of lignocellulosic biomass in various applications has a promising potential as a... more The utilization of lignocellulosic biomass in various applications has a promising potential as advanced technology progresses due to its renowned advantages as cheap and abundant feedstock. The main drawback in the utilization of this type of biomass is the essential requirement for the pretreatment process. The most common pretreatment process applied is chemical pretreatment. However, it is a non-eco-friendly process. Therefore, this review aims to bring into light several greener pretreatment processes as an alternative approach for the current chemical pretreatment. The main processes for each physical and biological pretreatment process are reviewed and highlighted. Additionally, recent advances in the effect of different non-chemical pretreatment approaches for the natural fibres are also critically discussed with a focus on bioproducts conversion.
The major hurdle in melt-processing of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) nanocomp... more The major hurdle in melt-processing of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) nanocomposite lies on the high melt viscosity of the UHMWPE, which may contribute to poor dispersion and distribution of the nanofiller. In this study, UHMWPE/cellulose nanofiber (UHMWPE/CNF) bionanocomposites were prepared by two different blending methods: (i) melt blending at 150 °C in a triple screw kneading extruder, and (ii) non-melt blending by ethanol mixing at room temperature. Results showed that melt-processing of UHMWPE without CNF (MB-UHMWPE/0) exhibited an increment in yield strength and Young’s modulus by 15% and 25%, respectively, compared to the Neat-UHMWPE. Tensile strength was however reduced by almost half. Ethanol mixed sample without CNF (EM-UHMWPE/0) on the other hand showed slight decrement in all mechanical properties tested. At 0.5% CNF inclusion, the mechanical properties of melt-blended bionanocomposites (MB-UHMWPE/0.5) were improved as compared to Neat-UHMWPE. It was...
Waste paper is the second-highest municipal solid waste collected in Malaysia and as current prac... more Waste paper is the second-highest municipal solid waste collected in Malaysia and as current practice, it is recycled for further use in the manufacturing of low-grade products. Instead of continuously utilizing waste paper for low-grade products manufacturing, it can be used as a feedstock to produce high bioproducts such as cellulose nanofiber (CNF). Hence, this study explored the potential of waste paper as a feedstock for CNF production. The waste paper was subjected to a different number of cycles of wet disk milling (WDM): 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 cycles. The presence of nano-sized cellulose was confirmed by FE-SEM micrographs, where CNF with diameter size 20 – 40 nm was formed after 10 cycles of milling. It was also revealed that the obtained CNF possessed appropriate properties as a reinforcement material. The tensile strength and Young’s modulus of poly((R)-3-hydroxybutyrate-co- (R)-3-hydroxyhexanoate (PHBHHx) increased by 19 and 12%, respectively after the reinforcement of 1% C...
The palm oil industry has been continuing to help in mitigating poverty and drive socioeconomic g... more The palm oil industry has been continuing to help in mitigating poverty and drive socioeconomic growth through job opportunities and infrastructure development in the suburbs. However, as the industry expands rapidly, production goes hand in hand with waste generation. With current utilization by mills, a large quantity of oil palm biomass is left underutilized. Existing practices allow only a proportion of biomass to be used as mulching agents in plantations and fuel boilers, while trunks and fronds are left to decompose for carbon cycling. A lot of work has been done on bio-product development using oil palm biomass, including biochar, activated carbon, bio-oil, compost, nanocellulose, biosugar, bioelectricity, biohythane, bioplastic, and bioenergy. This review puts together the latest pieces of evidence of technological progress in the valorization of oil palm biomass for value-added use. Overall, it was demonstrated that oil palm biomass can be converted into highly valuable feedstock via several pretreatment routes. Moreover, several challenges were identified and urgently need to be improved. This review will give a glimpse of how effective oil palm biomass is as the main feedstock for these high value-added bioproducts. Environmental signicance Oil palm is now one of the major economic crops in a large number of countries, which triggered the expansion of the plantation area around the world. In Malaysia, this industry annually generates about 80 million tons of oil palm biomass. This creates a serious problem of biomass waste overload to the country. The biomass generated has attracted great interest from researchers. This was due to the abundance of this valuable material which can be converted into valueadded materials such as bioelectricity, biofuels, biohydrogen, bioplastics, biosugars, and nanocellulose. This review will give a glimpse of how effective this biomass is as the main feedstock for these high value-added bioproducts. This article discusses the feasibility of biomass conversion technologies, including the detailed process involved in each bioproduct development, which wasn't comprehensively highlighted in recent years.
In this study, cellulose nanofiber (CNF) was produced from oil palm biomass (OPB) by using a wet ... more In this study, cellulose nanofiber (CNF) was produced from oil palm biomass (OPB) by using a wet disk mill (WDM). It was exhibited that the produced CNF had diameter in the range of 10-30 nm. When blended with low density polyethylene (LDPE) at 3 wt% CNF, the biocomposites resulted in an increment in tensile strength and flexural strength by 55% and 195% as compared to neat LDPE. Despite of the CNF ability to improve mechanical properties of the biocomposites, the CNF production suffers in term of high energy requirement due to the intense mechanical processing. Herewith, it is suggested that a sustainable production of CNF from OPB can be achieved by coupling the process with palm oil processing which is currently generating excess steam energy equivalent to 3.64 GW h/y, to create an overall palm oil mill biorefinery which includes material production.
Cellulose nanofiber (CNF) is an emerging nanomaterial which has gained attention from researchers... more Cellulose nanofiber (CNF) is an emerging nanomaterial which has gained attention from researchers and industries due to its versatility and potential applications in various fields. As a tropical country, Malaysia has various plant resources which can be used for CNF production. In this chapter, the potential of CNF production from three different tropical plant resources is evaluated: Napier grass, Kenaf core, and Eucalyptus cellulose pulp. Napier grass and Kenaf core were pretreated for cellulose extraction, while Eucalyptus pulp (obtained from a pulp and paper company in Thailand) was used as is. The pretreatment of Napier grass and Kenaf core was conducted using 50 wt% totally chlorine-free (TCF) solvent and 6 wt% KOH with the aim of removing lignin and hemicellulose, respectively. Cellulose samples obtained from treated Napier grass and Kenaf core and untreated Eucalyptus pulp were then soaked in distilled water for 3 days prior to nanofibrillation by a wet disk mill (WDM). Fou...
In this study, three types of oil palm biomass (OPB) namely, oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF), oil ... more In this study, three types of oil palm biomass (OPB) namely, oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF), oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) and oil palm frond (OPF), were studied and compared as the alternative fillers in the biocomposite reinforced polypropylene (PP). The fibers were treated using the optimal condition of superheated steam treatment obtained from previous study. The OPB/PP biocomposites at weight ratio of 30:70 were fabricated by melt blending technique and hot pressed moulding. Results showed that the tensile and flexural properties of optimized-SHS-treated OPB/PP biocomposites were improved by 9 – 30% and 9 – 12%, respectively compared to the untreated OPB/PP biocomposites. The same observation was recorded for thermal stability. Improved surface morphology as shown by the tensile fracture surface indicates better interfacial adhesion between SHStreated OPB fibers with PP matrix during blending. Overall results showed that OPF/ PP biocomposites had better properties compared...
The use of biodegradable polymers for food packaging material is favorable due to its ability to ... more The use of biodegradable polymers for food packaging material is favorable due to its ability to degrade after use. Nevertheless, the real application of the polymers is still limited due to its poor physical properties. Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the biodegradable polymers commonly used for packaging. Recently, there have been reports on the use of nanocellulose as filler in polylactic acid (PLA) for improving the mechanical properties of PLA; however, it has limitation in which non-uniform dispersion of nanocellulose is formed within the polymer during melt-blending. Uniform dispersion can be obtained through solvent casting method; nevertheless, it is not industrially applicable. In this study, a one-pot process was developed where nanofibrillation of cellulose and subsequently melt-blending of the nanocellulose with PLA were conducted in a twin-screw extruder. Results showed that nanocomposite reinforced with 3 and 5 wt% cellulose nanofiber (CNF) exhibited higher tensile strength and Young’s modulus compared to neat PLA. Crystallinity of the polymer increased by 43% with the addition of 5 wt% CNF. Meanwhile, wettability of the polymer was also improved as seen by the reduction in contact angle value. Results obtained exhibited the potential of the composite films to be used in packaging material, especially for high respiration products.
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering
Oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) is rich in cellulose and suitable to be used as raw material for t... more Oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) is rich in cellulose and suitable to be used as raw material for the production of cellulose nanofiber (CNF) and biocomposite. Recently, there have been reports on the use of CNF as filler in polypropylene (PP) for improving the mechanical properties of PP, however the process requires two steps: (i) nanofibrillation for CNF production and (ii) biocomposite compounding. In this study, a one-pot process was developed whereby nanofibrillation of cellulose and subsequently melt-blending of the CNF with PP were conducted at once, in a twin-screw extruder. Morphological analysis of the biocomposites by SEM showed that the cellulose was successfully fibrillated into CNF and compounded homogeneously with PP. The highest tensile strength, Young's modulus, flexural strength, and flexural modulus recorded were 34.9 ± 0.5 MPa, 12.1 ± 0.1 GPa, 59.3 ± 1.3 MPa, and 2.3 ± 0.05 GPa, respectively when 3 % CNF was used in the biocomposite. The reinforcement of CNF-OPMF in PP improved the mechanical properties of the biocomposite by 33.4 % compared to neat PP. It is interesting to note that the addition of CNF managed to improve the crystallinity of the biocomposite (54.6 %) compared to neat PP (50.1 %), despite of the lower crystallinity of CNF compared to PP. This observation can be attributed to the high density of covalent bonds per cross-sectional area and the large number of hydrogen bonding sites. Additionally, the observation can be explained by the role of CNF in composite which acted as nucleation agent, which eventually increased the crystallinity of the biocomposite.
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering
View the article online for updates and enhancements. Related content Cellulose nanofiber isolati... more View the article online for updates and enhancements. Related content Cellulose nanofiber isolation from palm oil Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) through strong acid hydrolysis Dwi Setyaningsih, Uju, Neli Muna et al.-Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Polylactic acid (PLA), a potential alternative material for single use plastics, generally portra... more Polylactic acid (PLA), a potential alternative material for single use plastics, generally portrays a slow crystallization rate during melt-processing. The use of a nanomaterial such as cellulose nanofibers (CNF) may affect the crystallization rate by acting as a nucleating agent. CNF at a certain wt.% has been evidenced as a good reinforcement material for PLA; nevertheless, there is a lack of information on the correlation between the amount of CNF in PLA that promotes its functionality as reinforcement material, and its effect on PLA nucleation for improving the crystallization rate. This work investigated the nucleation effect of PLA incorporated with CNF at different fiber loading (1–6 wt.%) through an isothermal and non-isothermal crystallization kinetics study using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis. Mechanical properties of the PLA/CNF nanocomposites were also investigated. PLA/CNF3 exhibited the highest crystallization onset temperature and enthalpy among all...
The utilization of lignocellulosic biomass in various applications has a promising potential as a... more The utilization of lignocellulosic biomass in various applications has a promising potential as advanced technology progresses due to its renowned advantages as cheap and abundant feedstock. The main drawback in the utilization of this type of biomass is the essential requirement for the pretreatment process. The most common pretreatment process applied is chemical pretreatment. However, it is a non-eco-friendly process. Therefore, this review aims to bring into light several greener pretreatment processes as an alternative approach for the current chemical pretreatment. The main processes for each physical and biological pretreatment process are reviewed and highlighted. Additionally, recent advances in the effect of different non-chemical pretreatment approaches for the natural fibres are also critically discussed with a focus on bioproducts conversion.
The major hurdle in melt-processing of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) nanocomp... more The major hurdle in melt-processing of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) nanocomposite lies on the high melt viscosity of the UHMWPE, which may contribute to poor dispersion and distribution of the nanofiller. In this study, UHMWPE/cellulose nanofiber (UHMWPE/CNF) bionanocomposites were prepared by two different blending methods: (i) melt blending at 150 °C in a triple screw kneading extruder, and (ii) non-melt blending by ethanol mixing at room temperature. Results showed that melt-processing of UHMWPE without CNF (MB-UHMWPE/0) exhibited an increment in yield strength and Young’s modulus by 15% and 25%, respectively, compared to the Neat-UHMWPE. Tensile strength was however reduced by almost half. Ethanol mixed sample without CNF (EM-UHMWPE/0) on the other hand showed slight decrement in all mechanical properties tested. At 0.5% CNF inclusion, the mechanical properties of melt-blended bionanocomposites (MB-UHMWPE/0.5) were improved as compared to Neat-UHMWPE. It was...
Waste paper is the second-highest municipal solid waste collected in Malaysia and as current prac... more Waste paper is the second-highest municipal solid waste collected in Malaysia and as current practice, it is recycled for further use in the manufacturing of low-grade products. Instead of continuously utilizing waste paper for low-grade products manufacturing, it can be used as a feedstock to produce high bioproducts such as cellulose nanofiber (CNF). Hence, this study explored the potential of waste paper as a feedstock for CNF production. The waste paper was subjected to a different number of cycles of wet disk milling (WDM): 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 cycles. The presence of nano-sized cellulose was confirmed by FE-SEM micrographs, where CNF with diameter size 20 – 40 nm was formed after 10 cycles of milling. It was also revealed that the obtained CNF possessed appropriate properties as a reinforcement material. The tensile strength and Young’s modulus of poly((R)-3-hydroxybutyrate-co- (R)-3-hydroxyhexanoate (PHBHHx) increased by 19 and 12%, respectively after the reinforcement of 1% C...
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