Production of Nanocellulose- Polyvinyl Alcohol- Alginate Based Filaments

Abstract

Oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFBs) are solid waste that are produced from crude palm oil extraction. Generally, it contains around 41-46.5% of cellulose, 25.3-33.8% of hemicellulose, and 27.6-32.5% of lignin (Suriyani 2009). Nanocellulose (NC) was isolated from OPEFBs through several treatments, including delignification, bleaching, ultrafine grinding, and ultrasonication. The obtained nanocellulose was processed further into filaments by mixing with sodium alginate and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). In this project, nanocellulose- PVA- alginate based filaments were produced by wet spinning method with CaCl2 as coagulant solvent. The effect of several formulations and CaCl2 concentration on the morphological, mechanical, and thermal properties of filaments were observed. The results showed that the increasing of NC concentration produced filaments that have better thermal properties and higher crystallinity, but the morphology of filament surface become rougher. The increasing of NC concentration up to 7% also increased the filament mechanical properties. Meanwhile, the increasing of CaCl2 concentration produced filaments that have better thermal properties, smoother surface, and higher crystallinity (up to 10% CaCl2), but with decreasing of mechanical properties (tensile strength) due to some cracks that occured on the surface of filaments with 13% of CaCl2.