In this study, cellulose microspheres from modified cotton linter (CL) and oil palm trunk fibre (OPTF) were fabricated by using simple emulsion method. The cellulose was obtained from the CL and OPTF through the alkaline pre-treatment and acid hydrolysis processes. The emulsion method was performed using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as an emulsifying agent. The characterization of the cellulose from CL and OPTF were analysed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the morphological characterizations of cellulose microspheres were later observed under optical microscopy (OM) and field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Based on the results, FTIR spectra displayed the lignin and hemicellulose had removed after treatments, while XRD revealed that the crystallinity index of OPTF and CL was increased after the treatments. The microspheres, formed with different ranges of size between 80 to 150 µm under OM and FE-SEM, showed the formation of pores on the surface of the microspheres.
AbstrakKajian ini dijalankan bagi menghasilkan mikrosfera selulosa daripada linter kapas (LK) dan gentian batang kelapa sawit (GBKS) melalui kaedah emulsi. Selulosa didapati daripada LK dan gentian GBKS selepas proses pra-rawatan alkali dan hidrolisis asid. Manakala, kaedah emulsi dijalankan dengan menggunakan polivinil alkohol (PVA) sebagai agen pengemulsi. Pencirian selulosa daripada LK dan GBKS akan dianalisa menggunakan analisis transformasi inframerah Fourier (FTIR) dan pembelauan sinar-X (XRD) dan pencirian morfologi bagi mikrosfera selulosa dijalankan oleh mikroskopi optik (OM) dan mikroskop elektronimbasan pancaran medan (FE-SEM). Berdasarkan keputusan FTIR yang diperoleh, lignin dan hemiselulosa telah berjaya dibuang selepas rawatan, sementara itu, keputusan XRD menunjukkan terdapat peningkatan pada indeks kehabluran bagi GBKS dan LK selepas rawatan. Mikrosfera yang terbentuk juga dapat diperhatikan melalui OM dengan saiz berjulat 80 hingga 150 µm dan FE-SEM pula menunjukkan penghasilan liang pada permukaan kedua-dua mikrosfera.Kata kunci: pengemulsi, lignin, berliang, mikroskop elektron imbasan pancaran medan